Fragile Balance

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S7 (Fragile Balance)

It's a really strange one, this. It starts well, with a well-worn sci-fi staple, but there's a reason these sci-fi staples are well-worn, and that is they're always interesting speculation. I could say it was done better on 'TNG,' and it was, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with a familiar idea being recycled for different TV series' or for different characters within them - you can do the same story a multitude of ways, depending on who you use, what angle you take, and what you choose to get out of it. This last point is where I felt this version of 'one of our characters has reverted to childhood' lost out: they didn't examine the idea in a compelling and thought-provoking enough way. There are plenty of questions to be delved into, but instead it becomes about another sci-fi staple, the clone. But even here we aren't afforded the most engaging of analyses, and it ends with O'Neill dropping his young clone off at High School! I mean, forget the ethics of cloning a human, what about the ethics of letting a hormonal Jack O'Neill onto campus complete with middle-aged mind? Forget for the moment that Jack has quite a juvenile attitude in a lot of ways (that's part of his charm), but is it safe to allow this clone of an Air Force Colonel into society at all, let alone High School! How did they wangle it with the Principal, would Jack be able to take instruction when (to him), he's been giving orders until recently? He's never been great under authority, and can you imagine him actually doing any work? It's weird to think of him mixing with young girls, too… There are plenty of body-swap or de-ageing films, and they often are a bit creepy and wrong when you think about them!

What about the security risk with all young Jack knows about the Stargate programme? How could he possibly fit into a mundane life, even with the desire to do it differently a second time? So you see that despite working as a neat tie-off for the episode, it really just opens a massive can of worms. That's before we've got to the ethics of cloning and whether you'd be comfortable knowing there was a duplicate you out there, even a few decades younger. Such things are glossed over - of course Jack isn't going to say 'sure, kill the clone' or 'let it die,' because he's the good guy. The fact that it takes a few seconds for him to decide is more to do with the fact he's only just woken up after seven days of sleep, hasn't had his coffee, and is suddenly in a completely weird situation. I was just waiting for that "Why are you in my bedroom?" But that's the 'Stargate' way. They generally prefer humour over depth, and it's one reason why the stories aren't as strong. I suppose it was a good thing that it took a sidestep into cloning rather than just being reversion to childhood (or young adulthood, you could say), but it still doesn't fully address the issues and we spend far too long getting to the point, when you realise that was the story.

After all the bizarre phenomena, the SGC has encountered, you'd think they'd have been a little quicker on the uptake, when in fact it's a while before they start to believe in young O'Neill. In later series' of 'Star Trek' where characters would start to tick off a list of possibilities we'd seen before when they found themselves in an unreal situation, and Daniel does the same here, mentioning several past incidents which were as strange, if not more so, than the Colonel becoming a teenager. Obviously they had to check out his story, the strong resemblance to speech patterns, dialogue and mannerisms not enough to give them a hundred percent confidence in the boy's claims. But even so… Hammond shows himself to be the good soldier man, not having enough imagination to think that this is anything more than a prank or a threat. Which may be why he's the one that liaises with the President and sends out the teams rather than actually going with them! I have to say I was somewhat disappointed in how easily Daniel has slotted back into the team. I was hoping his disorientation and unique situation of slowly remembering more of his corporeal life would continue well into the season, but it's as if he never left, now. They missed a trick there, wanting to get back to the status quo too soon.

It is good to see him and Teal'c going off together to interview those who have claimed to have been abducted by aliens, though that side of the story didn't really go anywhere either - did those people ever discover what really happened to them? I doubt it, as the SGC doesn't want people to know the truth about what's out there. And it helps give the series its feeling of exclusivity: these are the people in the know, and the ones that secretly protect the Earth. They were trying to tie into the fad of UFO sightings and experiences, as no doubt there is a part of this audience that believe or want to believe in such things. I suppose it was kind of harmless in the same vein as 'DS9' having the Ferengi turn out to be the large-headed aliens of Roswell and Area 51 in 'Little Green Men.' In this, however, Loki's unsanctioned experiments on humans ("You mean there are sanctioned ones?"), had very little impact beyond a slight ingenuity in further tying the Asgard into being the little grey aliens of modern mythology. There was the fun of having Producer (and sometime Director), Peter DeLuise as the voice of Loki, as well as Michael Shanks once again as Thor, especially as Daniel Jackson was in the room at the same time, and I could recognise both voices without needing to see the credits!

I would have thought O'Neill would have instantly recognised his teenage face staring back at him, but again, he'd just been awoken from a week's hibernation, and he's never the quickest on the uptake! Which is why I couldn't help but be amused by the concept that he's considered an advanced human by the Asgard and a potential solution for their cloning problems (turns out that second one he's not). Really? Jack O'Neill the next stage of advanced humanity? If I didn't know better I'd have said both Loki and Thor were having a joke, though I could buy that he's a legend among their people. It was this and other points already raised that stopped the episode from reaching its potential. I will give credit to Michael Welch (who actually has a Trek connection, having played Artim in Star Trek: Insurrection), who did an incredible job of recreating O'Neill's every thought and gesture, in fact I would even say he got too close, if that's possible, so that the usual little attitudes and asides that Jack's famous for, became slightly irritating! But O'Neill can be quite irritating in his sarcastic tone, which can grate, so maybe it doesn't pay to show it in a young version! Jacob also pays a visit to offer the Tok'Ra's technological assistance, though as Jack says, he's not going to accept another symbiote after the last experience. There were some good lines and moments (the briefing where they all sit up straight upon realising this really is O'Neill!), but the fun of the idea wasn't truly utilised, as when Jack escapes the confines of the SGC with very little to show for it. Could do better, I'd say of the episode.

**

The Aenar

DVD, Enterprise S4 (The Aenar)

Pardon the pun, but I was left cold by this to begin with, and it didn't become a suitable successor to the good, then great first two episodes until it became personal, with Shran's first conversation with Jhamel. We don't see him talk to other people much, it's mainly Captain Archer he interacts with, which makes sense as he's usually there to service their friendship. Here, we see him differently, perhaps more receptive to a lonely female thanks to Talas' recent death, perhaps his nobler instincts awakened, but either way he seems drawn to the Aenar girl and feels sympathy for her plight. You could see what was coming, by the fact the Romulans sent two drone ships this time - what else but the pilot, Gareb, turning them on each other. There was no way to save him, either, being in the heart of Romulan space, a place that no alien eyes would see at pretty much any time, save perhaps Jean-Luc Picard's. So his fate was sealed from the off, but, as his sister said, at least he didn't die alone, as she was able to telepathically communicate with him before the end. His situation does, however, leave many questions: how was he kidnapped in the first place? Do the Romulans have silent strike teams all over the quadrant, waiting to snatch unwitting species? Or did they deliberately seek out an Aenar, perhaps desiring to confirm the myths about them being such strongly telepathic beings? Why did Gareb help them anyway? Was it all coercion, or in revenge for lies they'd told him about being the last of his kind?

The story isn't the best conclusion to the trilogy, not least because it was already, for the most part, concluded in the second, superior part. Only the relatively unnecessary inclusion of the Aenar pilot in the first place gave them a thread to follow. And it leads to a strange place. I'm not talking exclusively about the long overdue first in Trek of a visit to the Andorian homeworld, or the ice caves of the Aenar, a subspecies that were all but legend to the blue-skinned inhabitants of that world until a few decades before. No, as interesting as that was (and as impressive a job as the production crew made of turning the familiar cave set into an icy wonderland!), it was Trip's destination at the end of the episode that was unexpected. He doesn't admit that it's his problems with T'Pol that have initiated it, but he does ask for a transfer. Like William T. Riker before (or after), him, he's previously twice turned down an offer from the NX-02 Columbia, to join them as their Chief Engineer, and now, like Riker and his USS Titan, he wants to take up the offer. But it's not for the right reasons, even if it does give us a handy and unexpected cliffhanger.

Instead of keeping strictly to the two- or three-parters, they have allowed little continuing arcs to slip through, which is good to see, though I was never in favour of Trip and T'Pol's illicit pairing. I did like Dr. Phlox' knowing conversation with him about his lack of concentration, and appreciated T'Pol's more stoic attitude and lack of understanding for how Trip is reacting, as this is more the alien Vulcans that we should have seen from the beginning, when in fact she fitted in fairly well, as if her arc of becoming part of the crew was simplified. When Trip asks her to recall an example of facing the likelihood of death, I was hoping she would tell us of a time before Enterprise, as it would have been an ideal time to learn more about her secret agent duty for the Vulcans in her earlier career. It was these issues of a personal nature that hold the attention more than the exploration of a new, but familiar (in name), planet. You can have all the physical exploration you want, but if it's not backed up by identification with characters, it may as well be a cold and detached scientific documentary.

We did uncover a fair amount of new information about Shran's people, their cohabitants, and even wildlife ('ice bores' - little worms that move through the ice). Shran's stubborn pride injures him when he falls down ice-hewn stairs and skewers his leg on an ice stalagmite, but this does result in him meeting Jhamel, so there was a point to it beyond showing his arrogance again - he actually sounds slightly rueful when he admits to her that no one's ever in any doubt about what he's thinking, and this softness adds ever more depth and subtlety to a character who often seems little more than a loudmouth, incendiary type, but who, as we've seen over the course of his various appearances, has a lot more to him. It's a shame we were only able to scratch the surface before the series ended prematurely, but at least this wasn't his final appearance. We're also afforded a little more personal time with the two main Romulans, Valdore and Nijil, even if it came a bit late. We hear of Valdore's disgrace, how he was forced to step down from being a Senator many years ago for daring to suggest expansionism might not be the best course for his people. In Nijil we see a much more humanitarian persona, one who is doing it for science, but abhors the violence in respect to Gareb, forced to work almost to death. Valdore, on the other hand is bitter from his previous fall, and has no mercy in him. His second major fail leaves me wondering why Romulan ships of the 24th Century are named after him, and it's only a guess, but I imagine, had we had continued with the Romulan storyline, including the war, characters like him would have recurred as we'd need to see the opposing side lest it became all the alliance's point of view against a faceless enemy.

I would also say the direction was artistic, with certain shots standing out in my mind - none more than the beautiful use of the circular window as framing device for the casual conversation between the two Romulans, but also the closeup 'in-headset' views of Gareb and Jhamel, with the operational blinkies sweeping across their faces as they communicated through the telepresence devices. The Aenar side of things was almost (again, pardon the pun), a blind, and something that could have done with more explanation, but at the same time we barely know anything about the Andorians themselves, so introducing a subspecies only begat more questions! Still, that's the mark of a thriving creative force: able to juggle existing canon without being hampered in developing the new. It's something we love about Trek in general, because the universe is forever unfolding, (mostly) logically, expanding the knowledge we have of these races, and turning their makeup and model ships ever more into living, breathing alien societies. The same fault of this series I keep returning to, is once again apparent, unfortunately, with Hoshi not even allowed to speak - you can't focus on every character ever week, but it is a problem when characters are all but excluded consistently. And just while I'm being picky, it was a little ugly to have the exit from the caves appear (after being hidden by the Aenar to prevent escape), so close to where they'd been, as it made the set look small! But in all, this trilogy was the best of the season, and remains so in my estimation.

***

Interstellar

cinema, Interstellar (2014) film

Christopher Nolan has made a name for himself for making films that don't rely on explosions, fist fights and chases, and for giving us proper stories, not narrative connections bridging the action scenes: giving us something to think about. Yet he also frequently manages to give us the ride expected of visiting the cinema, and doesn't preclude the use of explosions, fist fights and chases if they serve the story and are entertaining. He's not likely to make a film set in one room to bombard us with philosophical ideas because he seems to enjoy the scale and visual potential of the medium. Not to say a film in a room can't work - watch '12 Angry Men' to see it compellingly done. But he likes to mine all the streams of filmmaking in order to give us a complete production, from visuals to sound, colour to scale, and 'Interstellar' is no different. And, like first flipping open the cover of a classic book you've never read, it's best to experience it with as little foreknowledge as possible. I went in with a slight vision of what it might be about, it's hard to avoid every scrap of advance data that rains down on you like a vast wave: I knew it was about a catastrophe for the Earth that had to be averted; it was about a Father saving his daughter; and that it would include some of those Nolan likes to use like a repertory company (though I was surprised by one addition); and I knew it was a space film about an astronaut. Conditioned as I was by most film stories, I had in mind a comet heading for Earth that must be dealt with, but it was more imaginative than that, and if not a more immediate threat, one no less devastating for the species.

First impressions were that the story would fit within my preconceived notions about a former NASA astronaut having to go into space one more time because he's the best there is, while having to deal with an accident from his past. In fact, things didn't follow this predetermined route, and ghosts from the past were the least of his worries (more like ghosts from his future!), with no qualms about taking on a mission upon which would hang the survival of the human race. The only psychological problem he had was in leaving a young daughter who was angry at him for taking on a mission that would take years to reach completion. And we feel the full force of this decision thanks to the ability of Earth to send messages to the Endurance, the craft undertaking this vital quest. The film isn't about space, despite giving us a real, believable environment and taking the time to build the story from the ground up instead of rushing headlong into adventure. It's about the bonds of family (though perhaps potential parallels were lost with the Brands, who go through a similar experience to the Coopers, but in opposition, yet the same care was not afforded that particular bond, I felt), but even more than that, and this is the theme I felt was central, was time. Murphy, Cooper's daughter is resentful of the time she lost with her Father, because when she eventually does choose to send a message, unlike her brother who's always communicated, it is to chastise him for breaking his promise that he'd see her again by the time she was his age. She's reached that age, and no sign. She doesn't even fully believe he'll receive the message, and the film successfully represents the vastness of space and time, and that the lives of humans of so much meaning to us, are like the drop in an infinite ocean.

Cooper's son is quite different, much more inward-looking to Earth as it is, not having vision for the need or possibility of escaping the doomed planet. From boyhood he was happy to take over his Father's farm, proud of his Dad's work, which Cooper himself has never liked, being a man that looks outward, with an engineer's brain and little to use it for: wasted potential. Tom seems more comfortable with the past and solid matters of soil and crops, the immediate solution to the world's survival, not seeing beyond this as Murph does. She's always been fascinated by the space missions and her Father's role, so much so that she gets into trouble at school for challenging the now-held belief that the Apollo missions were faked, a belief designed to keep children grounded so they won't have dreams of space and technology, everything on Earth turned inward toward farming to stave off destruction. It is a blight that threatens existence, not some celestial body, and only a lone voice exists to see beyond this view: NASA itself. It continues to exist in secret with two plans to secure survival: find a planet and either settle it with embryos, or harness the power of gravity in order to lift the massive complex that is NASA HQ into space to provide an escape for the people. I sympathised with Tom, in a way, even though he was pigheaded, not allowing his wife and son to leave the farm despite their obvious lung damage from the dusty environment, perhaps seeing it as his sister, who never believed in the farming way, trying to force her views on him, and attacking the family unit he's built, while he's tried to continue what he sees as his Father's work. That's how I interpreted his character, anyway.

I wondered why they had Cooper living with his Father-in-law rather than his own parents (from a story choice - in that world I think both his parents were dead), but if he'd had somebody to confide in on a deeper personal level (there's a slight distance between the pair that might not be there with a parent), rather than someone to share a beer with, it might make him less his own man and emphasised his own bond with Murph. Not that Donald doesn't have a view on things - he gives Cooper wise words on a reason for doing something. Cooper wants to go to space because he feels it's right, it's what he's always wanted to do, but Donald tells him that just because it's what he wants doesn't mean it's right. He calls back to a time (our world), where everyone was intent on getting the latest thing, and that now, where things are simpler due to the needs of survival, things might, possibly, be better. Selflessness and selfishness are another big theme of the film. Is making a selfless act the better way than choosing what you want? What Donald doesn't know, however, is that the last crop that isn't afflicted by the blight will eventually succumb, as Professor Brand has already predicted (though be careful in trusting what he says!), so is that saying that doing what you want could be the right way after all? Another support of this reading could be Brand's method of persuading people to work for the survival of their species: he believes it can only be done if people are thinking of their own personal survival, which is quite a negative idea, and may undermine what some may see as a humanist tone in the film.

Donald's words are expressed by Cooper to the younger Dr. Brand when she admits her choice of the second of three planets to visit is motivated by attraction to Dr. Edmunds, the pioneer sent to test that planet for suitable colonisation. They only have enough fuel to go to either this or Dr. Mann's location, if they want to also return home, the reason the plan was initiated - Cooper never loses sight of a return to Earth, by which time Professor Brand will have solved the equation to unlock gravity. But just as young Brand's reasoning was affected, her Father's was too: he didn't believe the main mission, 'Plan A' could succeed, because the equation didn't work, gravity couldn't be controlled with their level of understanding. 'Plan B,' to colonise a planet and restart the human race with the embryos they carry on Endurance, was the only solution. So he's lied to Cooper, and even his own daughter - they'll never return to Earth, they must begin again. But this isn't the last lie: the group votes to go to Mann's planet because the data is much more promising, but in a cruel twist, Mann himself has falsified the data to make them come and rescue him, loneliness having driven him almost mad. He cites the survival instinct, and yet he puts the future of humanity at risk by attempting to maroon those who came, almost derailing the whole mission. If Cooper is selfless, giving up his life and family (even to do what he wants to do), Mann is the epitome of selfishness, caring more for his survival than anything else. He claims he'll complete the mission, but I have difficulty believing anything he says.

So selfishness is punished, but that doesn't stop Dr. Brand from wanting to go to Edmunds in the first place, and if she had got what she wanted, none of that would have happened. We also see selflessness vindicated, when Cooper apparently sacrifices himself to get the vital data from the black hole, pushing Brand out of the pull in which Endurance is trapped, so she can slingshot around it and use the last remaining fuel to go off to Edmunds. In doing this, Cooper is truly selfless as he never wanted to give up his life and any chance of seeing Murph again as he promised, but to save his daughter and the Earth, the information must be retrieved. I'm not sure how he thought the information would get back to Earth, as Brand was heading to Edmunds… In the end, of course, he solves the riddle of the ghostly presence early in the film, the genesis of his involvement, being sucked into the 'tesseract,' which he realises was built by advanced humans from the future, the same benevolent beings who sent a wormhole through which humankind could be saved, and seeing time in three dimensions, sending the message to his daughter, then being flung into space so he could be one day found, rescued, and meet Murph on her deathbed (I appreciated them using an old actress to play her rather than makeup, though of course they'd already done this once by showing her go from girl to woman), the mission a success, he who was willing to give up his life, regained it, and he who tried to save it (Mann), losing it, which is very Biblical.

See what I mean about making you think? It does a great job of that, which so many films completely gloss over, or throw in an idea, never to speak of it again. But this film has continued with me, the succeeding days after I saw it, making me ponder its meanings and motivations. It may not have been one hundred percent engaging, as sometimes there were parts that were too slow, but those moments don't stay in the forefront of your mind - it's the themes that stick. A judge of a good film for me, is whether I'm tempted to look at my watch during the showing, and although it had a long running time, I never had that thought, and even after it finished I was talking about it through the credits and walking through town until I parted from my cinema buddy, because there was much to discuss. Sometimes I've come out of a film (for example, the first of 'The Hobbit' films), irritated and unsatisfied, but if anything, it was difficult to explain all that had just happened, and though I talked a lot it was more surface material and reactions I could speak of, because you need time to mentally digest this film.

All this sounds as if there was no degree of feeling to the story, beyond sadness at death or betrayal, but there were thrills of danger and horror to be had, too. There were wonders to behold, the incredible and humbling spacescapes and amazing phenomena, a sense of awe at the size and scope that we know is out there, but rarely connect with. The closest we can come with our own eyes is seeing the stars on a clear night, and if you look up and see all those points of light you can become dizzy with the impossible distances and scale. We're afforded beautiful vistas, with the Endurance only a speck across the bulk of Saturn, or hovering over new planets, but these things could also be said to be distancing and cold. What really matters to us is personal danger, as when they set down on the watery planet of Miller, but are those distant mountains we see? They aren't mountains, they're a huge wave sweeping in from the horizon, and Dr. Brand's insistence on recovering the black box from Miller's crashed ship almost gets her killed. I got a slight sense of this early on when Cooper goes off road into a field of crops to chase down a rare flying drone - I wasn't sure entirely what to think, as I hadn't quite grasped the state of the world at that point, and it was supposed to be fun, and there was a sense of excitement and wonder, but I was also wondering if it was dangerous. Well, that impression planted the seeds of trepidation (perhaps seen from a child's view, and also showing Cooper is a safe pair of hands, as well as his need for adventure), that fully blossomed on Miller.

It wasn't just the approaching destruction that held an awe of horror about it, but that going down to Miller, time was much different, so an hour on the planet would be seven years of Earth time, and at that point Cooper was still expecting to get back to see his daughter before too long had passed. It just goes to show that that old saying of 'things always take longer than you expect' should be taken to heart exponentially when dealing with the physics of space. This concept of time moving at different rates for different people was fascinating as we see it in action, and when they do eventually return to Endurance aboard their shuttle, Romilly, the man they left behind, intending to be no more than four years for him, has waited over twenty! I would have liked to explore this concept much more, I'm not exactly sure how in the context of the story, but I wanted more. Still, my expectations continued to be incorrect as I thought the film would follow a structure of visiting each of the three chosen planets, and having adventures on each, and that 'They' would turn out to be aliens, whether benevolent or with hidden menace, but none of this came true, which is good, as it shows that it wasn't travelling a well worn plane of stories.

One reason the film could be slow was because it took things seriously, it wasn't frivolous or silly, but took care with real science, or at least the appearance of real science, and because of that it made me think of 'Star Trek' which used to do that so well. Not only was this the style I felt the modern Trek films should emulate, but it was pretty true to a vision of a hopeful future (eventually), and that good people would survive, working for the greater good - even when Cooper knows the original plan was a lie, he also knows that the data inside the black hole could make it happen, so if he can make his last act one that will hopefully grasp it, it will be worthwhile. I'm wishing Nolan would do a Trek film! To make things seem more real we don't just rush around from necessarily the most interesting moment to the next, time is taken to build the world, and even though perhaps the same level of detail and approach may not be as true of the characters, despite not knowing all of them as well as we might, when they're in danger it makes us feel for their plight, partly because of the overwhelming force they face (the wave), and partly because of personal betrayal (Dr. Mann). You care about what happens because this isn't a superhero film, and these people can't just fly out of harm's way or use superior strength. But they do have help…

The robots deserve special mention, and if there's one surprise in the film that was the most subtle and unexpected for me, it was the revelation of these machines! At first sight they are box-like, and very old-fashioned in design, like something from a seventies space film (perhaps not without purpose as there are several things about this film that speak to that decade). They walk about awkwardly, are never fully on camera, as if it was difficult to make them work, so you're not given a full picture of how exactly they move. I thought they were a bit daft, to begin with, but it was all a blind. Nolan was saving them for a flourish where the veil drops, like a magician's sleight of hand that you don't see coming. On Miller's world, TARS is ordered to rescue Brand from the towering wave that rumbles towards them, and this previously clunky object that had been kept in the background, shows what it's capable of in spectacular fashion: it splits into a wheel-like structure and rolls over to her, before picking her up with extendable arms and hurrying back as fast as it could walk. We were lulled into the pace and feel of an old space film, and allowed to forget what is possible today! It was magnificent, in the best tradition of R2-D2's heroics: a complete servant to human masters, but not without its own ideas, far more developed than the boxy casing told. Instead of the stereotypical monotone voice, they had normal voices with character and humour - and just as in the other horror aspects of the film, we feel safe with them, and then one proves fatal thanks to the evil of Mann.

Because this is demonstrably not an action-packed film, and has more attention set on grandeur and spectacle, I was beginning to think there wouldn't even be one punch thrown in the course of the story, but there was: Mann surprises Cooper and a vicious struggle for survival ensues. Because Mann had been happy to leave Cooper dying I was also worried for the other team members, thinking he might just go and kill them if he was capable of this, so there was great tension in the whole sequence, far from the unconcerning and aimless battling in many films. Knowing that McConaughey was playing the main character and Michael Caine was in it (I'm not sure if I knew Anne Hathaway was in the cast before I saw it), I wasn't put off by there being no opening credits, so often the case now - at least the title came up at the beginning, which wasn't so in his Batman films! Consequently, I wasn't thinking about actors or casting, just watching the story unfold, so I was most surprised when who should pop up out of the stasis tube than Matt Damon!

It felt like it was supposed to be a surprise, as there was a feeling of expectation engendered (I don't know if his casting had been kept secret), and though this hadn't been a horror film as such, to that point, I wasn't sure where it might go, so was half expecting some gory remains or something strange about the face being unzipped. That it was Matt Damon was enough! I think he was cast because he's so often the good guy, the trustworthy all-American guy (like Jason Bourne, his most famous role), you can depend on. Who better to be a double-crossing murderer! It was disappointing, in a way, that Nolan deigned to stoop to the use of such a character since there was inherent drama in the whole situation, but he wasn't reinventing the wheel. I'm not really sure why Mann was so intent on escaping, because even when they uncovered his lie, they wouldn't have left him behind. The worst that would happen is he'd be considered a criminal, perhaps, but in the precarious insurance of life they'd need every man available. Loneliness had addled his mind, I think we can take that from his actions, and the instinct he cites of preservation had taken over to form logic only he understood. This is an example of the film's theme about love, because we see existence without it, and it's not pretty, this in reverse of Cooper and Murph's love, or Brand's love for Edmunds, though I felt that theme wasn't as complex as some others in the film (Professor Brand's selfless love for the race, sending his daughter knowing he'd never see her again wasn't really explored), but maybe it didn't need to be?

Not everything made perfect sense, even if it can be said to be up to your imagination and interpretation. The solutions were a little tenuous, such as Cooper being able to send the presumably deeply complex data TARS was able to transmit to him, via binary code to the watch. How long would it have taken to do that, and what was he actually sending Murph? If Brand was heading to Edmunds, what was the point of trying to retrieve the data from the black hole, since they couldn't transmit it to Earth - if it hadn't been for the tesseract, Cooper's sacrifice would have been a waste as he'd have been unable to send the data out and would have died in there. Shouldn't Plan B, the idea of starting again and leaving Earth behind, have meant more women should have been on the mission - on Noah's Ark, everyone was a married couple to be able to continue the race. It makes me feel uneasy for Brand, as there could have been fighting over her, in spite of having the embryos. Why couldn't they build space stations like the one seen at the end? Well, that last question is easy to answer, because they needed the ability to manipulate gravity before they could get such an enormous structure into space, though that doesn't explain why they couldn't have shipped up smaller parts and assembled it in orbit, though I suppose the logistical scale would have been almost impossible to cope with thanks to the level of technology and resources at that time. And talking of technology, why did the mechanical harvesters stop working and congregate at the farm near the beginning? Was this further tinkering by future Cooper as a sign he should stay, or was it 'They' who did that? It was never referred to again!

When he slid into this clearly constructed creation in the middle of the black hole, as abstract and inventive as the whole sequence was, it did start to lose me a little. I suppose I assumed he was destined to die since a sacrifice is often the way to create a bittersweet ending, but we got both, thanks to this completely unexpected twist, so it was probably more to do with my expectations being confused, and a little less to do with a slightly pat ending in that he doesn't face the consequences of sacrifice (unless you count seeing his daughter about to die). I never guessed it would be Cooper himself pushing the books off Murph's shelf, as I was still assuming alien intervention since we knew there was a 'They' out there which had sent a wormhole, but when Cooper's flying through space and his ship disintegrates around him as he ejects I wasn't sure if this was some kind of memory we were seeing or if he was dying, or, as I said, aliens. I'm sure Gene Roddenberry would have approved, but it was a bit too airy-fairy for me, even though the multiple time zones of Murph's room stretching into infinity was a dazzling effect and an incredibly executed idea. But that the story rested on the concept of future 'evolved' humans who had learned to incorporate the fourth dimension of time into three dimensions was a little excessive for me, even though it did lead to something of a happy ending, and more importantly, a hopeful ending, both for the human race as a whole, and for Cooper individually as he goes off to rescue Brand from Edmunds' planet.

There's no last scene in which he lands there and finds (as we saw), she's had to bury Edmunds, but the romantic side of the film was thankfully understated in the extreme. You could guess where Cooper and Brand would end up as the hero and heroine usually find true love, but they didn't fling each other into each other's arms as soon as they boarded Endurance, their respect growing naturally from shared experiences. And you can't get more respect for someone than if they sacrifice their life to save you! I was glad the usual tropes of film were circumvented like this - though there was a fight, it was a shocking betrayal, not an expected showdown that was built towards; there was affection between the two main characters, but Cooper's love was more reserved for his daughter and the life without each other that they missed (it was about saving her, but more about sacrificing the time they could have had), leaving him free to go after Brand once Murph had died, symbolically ending that love and beginning a new one for him. Nolan's films have often been criticised as being cold and emotionless, and it's almost as if he was responding to that by making this a heartfelt film with a central character very much affected by events. Dr. Brand, and some of the others still come across as remote and scientific, but then they are all scientists and intelligent people ruled by their minds, whereas Cooper is more of an everyman, the commoner who also has special skills required to increase the mission's likelihood of success, but is still rooted in the old-fashioned heroic mould of adventurer.

He proves himself on more than one occasion: while it is the robot that rescues Brand in the first action sequence, it is Cooper's daring and piloting skills that are put to the test when he must dock with the spinning Endurance as its orbit decays after Dr. Mann's misguided attempt to escape, which resulted in explosion of one of the modules and the potential end of the human race. The real feeling of space and being in that empty, hostile environment is shown superbly in this sequence by the rapid rate of the shadows dancing violently across the Endurance. Unlike most sci-fi, you don't have many external shots of the spacecraft, though there are some exceptions when we see it as a tiny object dwarfed by the celestial phenomena around it, but it's mostly seen from onboard cameras as a real spacecraft would be, and is, with the craft stationery on screen, but the light and planets revolving around it.

The score is not one I would probably enjoy away from the film, as I prefer a strong theme, but of the films I've seen from Nolan, he tends to go with a tone or sound rather than the traditional rousing orchestral piece. And it does suit this film's style to have the organs that recall a seventies space documentary or the pulsar of tones, as they draw you hypnotically into more belief in the vastness and wonder of space and the tiny struggles of the humans. It was very much in the way of 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture,' slow and deliberate, and many other space films of the era - you can see these were a big influence on the Director, and something he wanted to recreate again in an age where things tend to be fast and flashy. But it's just this careful and thought-provoking approach that makes any moments of jeopardy so much more real. The world we're seeing is solid, scientifically accurate, with even the 'out there' solutions (a construct in a black hole), using speculation on dimensions to work. You can do anything in storytelling, but there has to be a price, there has to feel like there are rules that it costs you to get around, otherwise everyone is Superman and can do anything without fear. Space is vast. It's empty but for these great wonders, and doing things in space isn't easy, it's a trial. Nolan is calling back to the pioneers of the space programme and asking us to think of the future, too.

In surface impressions, I have to admit I couldn't always catch what was being said, a bit like Bane in 'The Dark Knight Rises,' but as with that film I was quite happy with that, as I got the gist of it and it added to the realism that not every word was sharp and clear. The only instance that really stood out for me were Professor Brand's last words, which I didn't catch. It was the same with the music: in space scenes we were often given silence, as that's what it would be like in that environment, but at other times we did hear music, because the film's story came first above slavishly following accuracy of reality: they're all tools in the filmmakers toolbox. I felt the use of strong language wasn't necessary, though it was used mostly in times of great stress rather than gratuitously. I just felt the sense of awe and panic sufficiently conveyed the emotions without it, and might have made it a lower certificate. A few times I saw faces of actors I recognised, but couldn't place until the credits (John Lithgow, of course!), but generally the casting was ideal. When we first meet Michael Caine's Professor I thought he was doing an American accent, but then he sounded English the rest of the time, so I don't know what was going on there, and unlike the other characters he didn't seem to age in the twenty-odd years, but maybe I missed how much younger he was supposed to be when we first met him? Hathaway was fine, but I can't say anyone jumped out at me, despite this being a very personal tale, and I certainly wouldn't suggest the effects and scale of the endeavour outpaced the characterisations, but I was left thinking it would have made a good TV series, perhaps a one-season epic as is possible now, which would have given more time to the characters.

I was also interested to see this was a co-production from Warner Brothers and Paramount, which was interesting. But this was not a 'Star Trek' film. There is a hopeful future, but it's arrived at in spite of lies and cowardice. Perhaps it's more realistic in that way than Trek (although even in that we have to go through a third World War to reach utopia!). The problem of the film is as simple as humans making their own mess, and my own first thought was to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, which was later mentioned. Reading up on it, I found the old people speaking in documentary style were real, from an actual film about that time (explains why they seemed so genuine), and rooting the story in an emotive and difficult period for the nation that also created space exploration was a deliberate ploy, as it shows both the highs and lows of human life. I'd have liked to learn more about the world, and its curious disbelief in the achievements in space of the past, but there wasn't time. The film may not have been flashy, but it had beautiful moments. It wasn't full of action, but that only emphasised the moments we saw. It could be slow, but the atmosphere drew you in. And it was all based around people, not mighty heroes we can't identify with, but real people and their reactions to the potential end of humankind. Not going softly into this good night. So the film may not be as optimistic as you might think, but it's also true to the savage survival instinct of the species. It's something that's kept me thinking long after the experience ended, and the more I think about it, the more I want to see it again, which is a good way to come off of a film. Most these days aren't worth the admission fee, but this one most definitely was.

***

United

DVD, Enterprise S4 (United)

If you're ever unsure of whether 'Enterprise' can hold up years after its production, just put this episode on! It has everything a great Trek episode needs, and while we weren't served up this level of rightness anywhere near as regularly as on the other Trek series', now and again they turned out a real gem like this. The characters are used effectively (even Travis and Hoshi!), there are space battles, cool ship designs, nice little links to Trek history, humour, action, mano-a-alieno duelling, and even a surprising cliffhanger that stayed with me ever since I first saw this episode almost a decade ago, to this moment when I saw it again: the pilot of the Romulan drone ship was none other than what appeared to be a white, blind Andorian! That really hit me on first viewing, and even though I know what it's all about now, it still makes for a visual to stick in the mind. We've never even seen a white Andorian before, and why would it be working for the Romulans? These and other questions would be dealt with in the third and final part of the trilogy.

Up until that ending I felt this could comfortably have been a two-parter, as all the conflict is resolved, the drone ship is left to limp back to its masters on Romulus, and all is right with the alliance. I wonder if it had originally been designed for two parts, but they were enjoying playing in the sandbox of Andorian culture so much that they stuck a third on the end? Once again, if people decry Trek's canon as two big an obstacle to work within, you only have to find a race like the Andorians, as they did in this series, one that hasn't been extensively explored, and you have free rein to delve right in there! And there are plenty of familiar races for which this could have, and could be, done even now! Even this series hadn't ice-picked their way into the caverns of Andorian life as much as it could have, and no doubt if Shran had joined the cast as was planned for Season 5, we'd have learnt so much more about his species, not to mention the Tellarites, who could have done with much development. That's not a criticism of this episode, just an observation that they were almost as close to a blank slate as an alien of the week. Here, however, both are used very well, and it's a thrill to see the fruits of Earth's, and in particular, Archer's labours: a combined fleet of Vulcan, Tellarite and Andorian ships join Enterprise during their skirmish with the drone vessel. Wow!

Setting the various races against each other and destabilising the quadrant may have been the Romulans' intention, but it had the opposite effect, binding those uncertain allies closer in an effort to smoke out the intruder that manipulated them. Adversity bonded them in a natural way, but only thanks to the tireless and selfless heroism of good Captain Archer. I would put some small question towards Scott Bakula's choices in this episode, as although the character comes across well, broadly speaking, I felt he was a little too shouty when he didn't need to be, and jovial when seriousness was called for. It's nitpicking, I know, but in such a strong episode I'd have liked everything to be perfect: when he's lecturing (quite rightly), Gral and Shran on the need to put aside their differences, to stop the threat, he ends up sounding like a school teacher warning that they're about to get detention, more than an experienced starship Captain, advising them to discard their personal feelings and get to the table. And as T'Pol tries warns him against taking the Tellarite's place against Shran in combat, he seemed to take things a little too lightly, as if he had a trick up his sleeve. Maybe he did? Was it always the plan to whip off Shran's antenna to humiliate rather than kill him? Which brings me to Travis' story - just how did his Dad deal with a similar challenge, as we were taken out of the scene before he revealed the punchline? I assume it was the same as Archer's solution, but if so, I'd have liked to see him thank Travis and Hoshi for finding the loophole, to make it clear it was their plan.

I must say I was surprised when Talas, Shran's chosen mate, actually dies from the graze inflicted from the phase pistol. I thought she was the woman he settles down with for the rest of his days and has children with, but it was not to be. What was to be, were Shran's best scenes of the series: a touching bedside reassurance for Talas from a man so often brutal in his movements and attitudes, a soldier whose pride in strength and honour are both his best and worst qualities at the same time. It was also touching to see him reiterate his friendship with Archer, they don't even do the 'You owe me!' recurring joke any more, as Shran openly calls him friend. I loved that scene in Archer's Ready Room with Shran looking at the illustrations of past Enterprises and asking if Archer had captained them all. It would be a sensible question to him, not knowing the history of Earth - but those images have gone down through real history, too, first shown in 'The Motion Picture,' and tying the NX-01 to the greater, rich tapestry of Enterprise lineage. They may have tied back to the very first Trek film, by focusing on those ever-present parts of Archer's background, but they also connected with the latest film of the time, 'Nemesis': Remans! It's such a disappointment to me that the aliens in the opening two-parter of the season were said not to be Remans, despite their very similar look, but it makes up for it somewhat by having real Reman heavies as part of the sinister and threatening presence of the Senator overseeing the drone ship's operation.

It's good to see that Valdore has his superiors to bow and scrape to (not that he does), and that the Senate is mentioned, and that we're allowed to see out of the window of the drone relay 'bridge' now that we're in on the secret that it isn't the actual drone-board location. And the Senator even gives us a Jolan Tru to be done with, too! I loved seeing the Romulan text come up on screen as Malcolm and Trip try to take control, but more than that, I loved the whole ambience of the sequence, with the Romulan addressing them each individually as he tries, as usual, to manipulate events out of his control, by pulling the strings to make people do as he commands. Or so he thought - as Reed said, Trip's good at fixing things, he's good at blowing things up, and that's exactly what he did to save them, giving us our first (as far as I can remember), self-destruct of a Phase Pistol. I was starting to wonder why the Romulans didn't just self-destruct their own ship as it was about to fall into enemy hands and it sounded like they had others, but even that little question was quickly answered: the destruct system was being repaired. Although… if you're going to be picky you could point out that this is usually the most hardy and (ironically), indestructible part of a ship, since it has to be able to work even after vast damage. And just as the artificial gravity is usually the last system to go, so too is the self-destruct. But then this isn't a Federation ship, and it ain't the 24th Century, so I'll give them credit for even mentioning the fact.

The calm, familiar way Valdore talks with these trespassing strangers was off-balancing, and more chilling since you know with the slightest advantage he'd flush them out or leave them to die of radiation poisoning without compunction. It made me think of 'Civil Defence' on 'DS9' where the computer activates booby traps and takes over the station. They do spend the whole episode aboard, but it's only a B- or C-plot, but being trapped on a remotely operated ship could easily have been the main story of an episode. But that's the delight of this episode: so much to like, and not at the expense of character. T'Pol gets less than usual, but continues to display a more appropriate level of Vulcan restraint than she used to, while also friendly concern for Archer. Phlox has to break the bad news to Shran. Hoshi and Travis work together to find a loophole in the rules of the Andorian duel (odd that the woman on the bridge at the station in front of Travis didn't even look up when he called across to Hoshi - he didn't say a name, so she should have looked up as he called from behind her!). Travis also came up with the sensor net plan to track the drone ship, one of the more unlikely moments - when did he come up with this? I wondered why he stared so intently at his controls every week, now we know: he formulates plans! This time he was listened to, for once. It's more something T'Pol would propose, but I wouldn't penalise their use of a character so often sidelined, and it was interesting to note the similarity between this and 'Redemption II' when such a strategy was also used against the Romulans!

If we're talking about good character scenes, none are better served than Shran. He reaffirms his and Archer's historic friendship, grieves over his dead mate, and battles the Captain in the Ushaan, ultimately shaking the hand of his racial enemy, the Tellarites, and helping to usher in a new era of peace, brokered by Archer. When he enters the conference room, claiming he only wants to talk, the tension can be felt as he stalks round the table at which the killer of his mate sits, like a tiger with its claws just below the surface. Knowing he's not the sort of person to talk, but one to take action, we're just waiting for him to do something, and it's a very well choreographed scene. So we see many sides to this Andorian, beyond what we've seen before, and he only goes up in our estimation. As does the Captain - he takes a risky course of action, gambling that if he is killed by Shran the alliance will continue as Starfleet won't withdraw from it. The actual duel itself looked real, and in the finest tradition of Starfleet officers, such as Kirk taking on Spock, or Worf taking on Duras. It looked like Archer was really sliced up there, too, not just a ceremonial little cut, strategically placed on the cheek to look scarred without the nastiness of deep damage - Shran digs into his leg, and you can see later, on the bridge, he's still got a slight limp. That's the difference with this episode, though: it has and deals with repercussions. It ripples down through history, taking in the future of ships named Enterprise, and the whole Federation itself.

It gets the surface jazz on target with a nifty and breathtaking aerobatic display from the drone ship, and is excellently directed by regular master, David Livingston, who injects urgency even into the static talky scenes by circling the speakers and keeping things moving visually without resorting to shaky-cam overdrive. What more? Oh, there's a great shot of the NX-01's bow as it sails majestically into frame above the helpless forms of Reed and Tucker, and the episode has a number of moments that almost make you want to cheer - that mini-fleet of allied ships that warps into the area before warping off after the drone, is just one of them! The Romulans also mention their distant brothers, which threw me for a second as I'm sure Spock was unfamiliar with them being related when it was first revealed in 'TOS,' but, just as V'Las knew of and wanted reunification, it can be explained away as only the top members of each species knowing the truth. Leaving aside unification, though, this is all about uniting. The episode could have begun with the title 'Disunited' as they're about as far from proving an effective partnership as can be, but in true and time-honoured Trek tradition, by the end of the episode, its title says it all, and the pride, vengeance, anger and bitterness has been turned around into a force for good and cooperation. On my 1000th blog post I included a list of my top 'Enterprise' episodes, but I mistakenly put 'Babel One' down when I meant this one - this is my fourth favourite episode of the series, without a doubt.

****

CyClones

DOSBox, CyClones (1994) game

You could do a lot worse if you're looking for a first person shooter to play that costs nothing, than have a go at this. After trying out various genres on DOSBox, I fancied an FPS, just to see what was possible back then. While it could never compete with the seminal experiences I had with such greats as 'Goldeneye 007' and 'Perfect Dark' on the N64, or 'Metroid Prime' and 'Turok Evolution' on GameCube, it was a good-sized game with twenty-one levels of varying environmental style (to a degree - more on this later), some fairly enjoyable weapons, and… not much else. The game's story I never really followed with my full attention as it was presented in text that was very militaristic in format, speaking to you as the walking weapon that you are. I read it all at the start of each level, but precious little stayed in my mind, and as every level was pretty much the standard formula of these kinds of games (shoot nasties; pick up items to progress), it wasn't necessary. So I never really felt the impression of one lone drone on its own against an infestation of evil, that was so well done in 'Metroid.'

If there was a game I could compare the experience to, it would be 'Hitman 2' on the 'Cube. Why? The irritating controls. I'd never played an FPS in the 'pure' way of mouse and keyboard before, and maybe I didn't find the right setup to best feel the control, but for whatever reason, just as 'H2' was an enjoyable game, taken down a few pegs by ill-designed control methods, I would have enjoyed the game far more if I'd been able to have the precise and perfect response I had with the Nintendo Controllers while playing shooters on their systems. What may be a realistic addition, in the unreliability of your weapons, proved thoroughly distressing on multiple occasions as I found the mouse changing to movement when I was in the midst of pitched battle, meaning my gun would either stop firing, or keep firing and use up more ammunition than necessary! It was like my gun jammed, and in this futuristic weaponry, out of place. And yet I'm sure it was just my control that was at fault, not a deliberate in-game malfunction designed to set you on edge.

Other irritations were that the cursor turned pink whenever you touched the edge of the screen, and because you were always looking for hidden doors discovered by your cursor turning pink, you were forever having to stop and check if you'd missed something, or you might well miss some because you assumed a false alarm! The hidden doors could be a bit of a pain, as progression too often relied on locating these, and searching for them could get boring, especially as some of the later levels were quite maze-like. I will give them this credit, though: with relatively small resources and power for the time this came out, they still managed to pull off varied environments which used topography to good effect, whether that were slopes or multi-levelled areas. The first level you're out in the open with a starry sky above you, and you traverse all kinds of internal locations, from stone-hewn caverns of varying hues, to high-tech alien facilities, to swampy or slimy areas, to places of wood or metal or alien surfaces. So you don't get tired of the visuals except for the fact that it's all in a very blocky style, laid out in squares and rectangles, but that's to be expected given the time it came out.

Okay, so control far from ideal, visuals pretty good, how about the sound, so integral in creating mood? Another negative for me, I'm afraid, with 'music' that is truly terrible blinky-blorky and interminable, unchanging from level to level. As much as I tried to turn it off, it didn't seem to be affected, which could be annoying, but the sounds of the weaponry were reasonably meaty until you got to later levels where your suit has upgraded nicely (a la 'Metroid'). Oddly, the fact that you have a more powerful arsenal at your disposal doesn't mean a meatier sound: to begin with your default, non-ammunition weapon is a sabre glove with two nasty spikes, which makes a nice slashing noise through the air. Later you get a whirring power saw, buzzing with teeth. But you finish up with 'enhanced fists' which zap an enemy into vapour with one handy slash. The difference is, no matter how much more powerful and empowering it is, it sounds like a zip being pulled or a faulty firework poofing on the ground. And instead of holding a meaty rocket launcher, by then you have a tiny little box held in the palm of your hand that sounds like a stapler being fired across a classroom! Again, the sound is the only thing at fault here, the weapons are reasonably varied and good to use.

I played the game on 'Medium' difficulty, the default choice I always make (it should give enough challenge not to dissuade you from completion, and if you like it enough you still have the harder difficulty to play). If it weren't for the controls I'd say it would have been a lot closer to easy, as there are plenty of medkits, shields and ammunition to pick up, usually behind hidden doors, but also in the general areas you explore. I wouldn't say it was too easy, but I didn't find it tough, and that goes for the final battle with the Mother creature, too. All you need do is shoot the 'barrels' holding up her forcefield a few times, while also being wary of approaching enemies, and then you can rush to the escape pod by the side and you're done. Not that I was expecting a vast boss creature like 'Zelda' or 'Metroid,' but I was surprised it didn't take many attempts to defeat. Still, the size of the game meant it was more than a short-lived experience, and certainly gave you enough time to get into it, and appreciate the changes as you progressed. The enemies weren't bad, with the robotic Johnny 5 things on tracks, and the flying drones, among the more difficult to take out, though most opponents were standard run-and-gun sorts, before enemy AI had reached a level of deviousness I'm more used to.

The other thing is, you can save at any time, there are no rushes to get to the next save point as your health depletes, which can create some great tension. It was a useful function, but the downside was that you couldn't revisit any levels at all as you could only have one save file, overwritten when you saved. Not that it was such a well-designed game that you'd want to revisit levels as you might other games, but it would have been nice to have that option - perhaps you wanted to explore something you didn't have time to before. This is only a small criticism, however, and for the most part I would say this is worth playing. It may not have provided the challenge in quite the way I expected, and battling controls drags it down a point, but within the limitations of the time, blocky sprites, and not exactly pushing the genre (except for the power of flight, which may well have been a new level of freedom at the time), it remained something I wanted to reach the end of. But on the other upgraded hand, I wouldn't likely return to try the next difficulty level.

***

Homecoming

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S7 (Homecoming)

There's not a lot to write about this episode, not because it was bad, but it's really just stuff happening rather than a real story. I suppose that's the criticism you could level at most 'Stargate' episodes, but what pulls it through and makes it watchable, even on occasion more than enjoyable, are the characters, and this one is no exception. While the creeping around in the bowels of Anubis' ship is okay, it's Daniel and Jonas having a conversation that sticks in the memory after watching it. It's good to see the old Daniel continuing to return, where he at first seems surprised that they carry out these kinds of missions on a regular basis, but by the time he's finished that thought he's realising it's actually what he likes. It was also pleasing to see the team effort at the end, as O'Neill and Carter show why they're soldiers, Teal'c why he's a warrior, and Jonas gets his chance to pay back Daniel for sacrificing his life, by pushing him out of the way of a staff weapon's deadly blast. I'm glad it was only a moderate wound that Jonas suffered, rather than heroically being sacrificed in what is his last episode, as it gives him the opportunity to return. And I really like Corin Nemec and his performance as Jonas Quinn, the alien who sees the galaxy for the first time, proves himself to his fellow SG-1 team members, and returns to Kelowna a respected mediator, needed for all the experience he gained on his year out.

I think the reason he works is what Daniel says: he's 'up.' He's an optimistic character in the best 'Star Trek' tradition, interested and excited to explore, useful in a fight, but someone who thinks, and it would have been a cruel irony indeed had Anubis ended up destroying his home planet after using the mind probe alerted him to their use of naquadria, considering he left so he could help his people by gaining the knowledge of the wider universe. So it all ends happily with a touching farewell in which he isn't rushed off the series, but, like Daniel's reintroduction in the preceding episode, is allowed time with each character. And because we've seen him come and grow, and become a likeable member of the team over the course of Season 6, it's really quite sad to see the back of him. It's impressive that they managed to create another main character who could replace a much-loved staple since the beginning, in Dr. Jackson, making him similar, but so different, and all without upsetting the team dynamic. I'd have happily let Jonas stay on the series - as Jack said, he earned it. But I suppose budgetary constraints ruled the day. At least I assume that was the reason they didn't have more than five main cast members. Perhaps when one or two of the others left they should have brought him back permanently, but instead they were to raid the 'Farscape' store cupboard of discarded actors. But that's all in the future, in seasons I've never seen, so I'm hopeful that he'll at least show up again sometime.

As for the bulk of the episode it's all a bit pulp sci-fi, with the usual 'evil villains' saying the usual 'evil villain pitches' (even some 'Star Wars' moments: Anubis getting Jonas to look out at his home planet, which you could equate with either Leia at Alderaan, or Luke watching the fleet during the battle of the final Death Star; as well as the crooked Commander, who says he's made another arrangement, like Lando Calrissian before he sells out his allies!), and even the interesting political discussions such as those between Teal'c and Yu's servant, were fairly brief. I suppose this is the beginning of Baal's paltry reign, though why they picked him out of the selection I don't know. He certainly had fun rushing in and pulverising Anubis' great vessel (which looked like the alien ship hovering over an American city in 'Independence Day'). There could be some mileage in the Yu thing: that he's the oldest and so his symbiont is basically going senile, regardless of what host it could be in. It shows that the System Lords have their limits, if you don't mind waiting a few thousand years.

What could happen with the situation of their alliance may have potential, though if past history is anything to go by they'd quickly be at each other's throats. The political situation on Kelowna was also ripe for more stories, though it sounds like they got their problems sorted out, and are ready to move forward. I couldn't really remember how much the general populace knew about aliens and the outside galaxy, but the other leaders didn't know about the Stargate, so it's easy to assume they were new to everything, so again, that could be interesting to see, since having your planet invaded would be a talking point, and there would certainly be no hiding the facts. But I suppose with Jonas requested (in fact a condition of the three countries meeting), their problems were going to be talked through and as they're not that important to the series, it's unlikely we'd see how events unfolded, it being enough to have an upbeat ending of hope, and a good reason for Jonas to return home for a new mission.

**

Babel One

DVD, Enterprise S4 (Babel One)

Now this is more like it! Using the familiar pieces of the Trek universe to craft a tale that makes sense with the various races used, ingeniously bringing in the Romulans, excellent misdirection (as well as some good direction, too - those low shots of the phase pistol battles on the NX-01, or the shot where the camera pivots round and down from Trip in Engineering were nifty!), Jeffrey Combs, more steps towards the founding of the Federation… there isn't much more you could want. Begin at the beginning: like the previous episode, I was partially taken in by the opening (post teaser, this time), with Hoshi shouting complaints at the Captain. I sensed something wasn't quite right as this was out of character, and I was even beginning to feel my heart sink as I thought they'd got Hoshi's character all wrong… until it turns around at the end and we realise she's helping Archer prepare for a delegation of Tellarites, who love nothing more than to complain! It was funny, it was cute, it got me, and it was a good way to open an episode, contrasting with the devastation of Shran's bridge in the teaser even more.

If the opening worked well, I must also praise the conclusion: not only did it bring misdirection to a head on a grand scale, at quite the opposite end of Archer and Hoshi's little discussion, with a beautiful, spine-tingling shot as we pull out from what appeared to be the bridge of the Romulan vessel, to reveal they're actually on Romulus itself, the famous circular city we'd later see in 'Star Trek Nemesis.' It was like the end of 'DS9' where the final shot pulls away from the station, and had a similar kind of awe to it. The music accompanying the moment didn't really fit, being too noisy and unsubtle, so that may have been a weak part of the episode, but there's too much good stuff to complain about something minor like that. And if minor details you want, there are plenty to devour: for a start, post attack on Shran's wrecked vessel, the Kumari, the voice of the computer sounded very much like Linda Park… Shran isn't exactly a small detail, but it's always a pleasure to have him back, this time bringing Talas, his girlfriend along, only the third Andorian to appear in more than one episode (Shran's subordinate, Tholos, was in his first two episodes). Reed's joke about the crew of the drone ship probably breathing fluorine may have been a reference of the Tholians; Tellarites return, having bypassed Season Three, (though seen in 'Borderland'); the diplomatic meeting is to be held at neutral planet Babel, later the site of an important conference in 'TOS,' and of course, the Romulans return properly after making their series debut at the end of 'Kir'Shara'!

How were they to do that? It would violate sacred canon to have Romulans show themselves on the galactic stage. Ah, but it wouldn't if they weren't seen (the way around it in the NX-01's previous encounter in 'Minefield,' an event that T'Pol reminds Archer of). This created a source of tension in the moment Trip and Malcolm get to the bridge of their ship, as you think they're about to stumble on a room full of Romulans. Even if they had, it could easily be explained away through them being mind-sifted or that they promised not to tell, since they'd already seen the Ferengi and Borg without hurting canon. So clever that it was actually a drone vessel (controlled by a mysteriously white-skinned pilot, though I don't think I noticed that fact on original viewing). It's perhaps not so amazing as it was at the time, but still an expertly designed surprise, and a logical development for a people well known for pulling the strings of puppets. The look of the machine was also impressive, like all the great ship designs it has the effect of making you think of something from the natural world, in this case some kind of sea creature or insect. Nippy little thing, too, as shown by the way Trip and Reed were thrown around. Not sure why they thought the MACOs should be withdrawn to safety first, as their mission was to protect the senior officers, not bolt back to the ship at the first sign of trouble, but it's just a storytelling device really, we wouldn't expect the episode to be about two MACOs rather than the Chief Engineer and Security Chief!

The pair work well together, and have done since Season 1 when they were stuck in a shuttlepod ('Shuttlepod One,' in fact), so it's surprising they weren't developed more as a couple of mates. But that's something the series undoubtedly fell down on, and that Manny Coto was taking strides to improve upon. No wonder people consider Season 4 to be better written, as all it took was more in the way of scenes for people to get to know each other, or go through things together. It makes sense that Hoshi would tutor Archer on the best way to interact with Tellarites, just as it makes sense Reed would be the one to investigate an unknown hostile ship - Archer isn't immediately jumping ship and taking the mission himself. Then again, he has plenty to keep his hands full after winding up with a ship full of Tellarites and Andorians, both of whom vehemently suspect betrayal of the other, and have fast flowing hatred just beneath the skin. A good job by the Captain in a role he's not as familiar with as later Trek Captains: the diplomat. I'm not sure (nor have I ever been!), whether friendship with Shran makes his life easier, or more difficult! Not to say he hasn't had his share of such outings - as far back as Season 1's 'Cold Front' he was transporting delegates, though since the Xindi arc there hasn't been a lot of call for sensitive missions like this. But here we are, coming to the point of the series: preparing the ground for the Federation to come into existence.

A fine continuation of that theme, here. Despite differences, Archer keeps things together, humans seen as this other species that's new to the high table of the galaxy's politics, and as a result, impartial, especially since recent events on Vulcan (is T'Pol acting more reserved since then, or is that my imagination?). You can see, even from this smaller field of a trade dispute, that Archer and those like him, in spite of the opposition and passions of the various races, are going to be successful in getting the various main species together, and it only makes the tragedy of the series' early cancellation all the more devastating when episodes such as these showed such promise for the future! Who knows how the franchise would have panned out if 'Enterprise' had survived to show the Romulan War and the subsequent alliances leading to the Federation: that optimistic outlook that went missing in Season 3 was coming back in spades. Not that the Romulans were going to do anything to help. I wonder why they wear the uniforms of 'Nemesis,' or for that matter have V-shaped foreheads?

The one could be explained away as the 'later' film uniforms returning to a two hundred-year-old fashion (a stretch I admit, but Romulans have never been the snappiest of dressers!), perhaps for reasons of nostalgia - this could also explain another link, which I believe goes unspoken in this episode: Brian Thompson's Romulan leader is Admiral Valdore, for whom the 'later' film named at least one ship. Amazingly brilliant connectivity to the film series, though it's in the same annoyingly minor or unspoken category as the USS Archer being seen as one of the Starfleet starship names in Stellar Cartography in that film - it's not enough, they should have shown a flashback to 'Enterprise' or had Picard look up something Archer did, it would have been the ideal way to join the two remaining arms of the franchise together instead of almost ignoring them, except for these tiny references. Look, 'Nemesis' may have been one of the least satisfying Trek films, but that doesn't mean it's not part of the franchise, and I can only see that linking film and TV sides together would have benefited both: look at the Defiant cameo in 'First Contact,' it's fantastic! But in those days they were trying not to confuse the issue, perhaps not taking enough confidence in their productions. But this is all with hindsight and I'm getting off track here, 'Nemesis' is a review in itself!

My point was that this Valdore is important enough to be remembered, and though I don't think he did much particularly to go down in history (short of delaying the Babel conference), I suspect he would have become a recurring character in future seasons, a kind of unseen nemesis, since they'd already got rid of Silik and the Suliban. There's a point: maybe the reason the Romulans have uniforms we've seen worn in the future is because they were given them by their own Future Guy, and the Temporal Cold War is not as finished as we thought? Not much of a guy, though, if all he could muster were some checked uniforms when the Suliban were gifted all those genetic powers! Perhaps the Temporal Cold War theory has something to do with the Romulans' future forehead look, too? In 'TOS' they had smooth foreheads, as I've already discussed at the end of the 'Kir'Shara' review, and yet in 'Star Trek XI,' Nero, and the Romulans from the late 24th Century had smoothies too, so it could either be a genetic modification, or there are breeds of the race that have more pronounced V-heads than others. I could see the Romulans breeding those with a V-head specifically as a sign of superiority to flatheads, as that would be just the kind of snobbish thing they'd do. But equally, the Klingon explanation to come this season could work for them, too.

Who to play the return of one of the most important races of Trek? No, not Jeffrey Combs, although it wouldn't have been the first time he'd played more than one role at a time (still amazing he could do Brunt and Weyoun in the same episode!). No, they brought back a less familiar, but still well-used face: Brian Thompson. He plays the Admiral, Valdore, but it's interesting to note that his Trek association stretches back to Season 2 of 'TNG' when he played Klag the Klingon, then another of the race in 'Generations,' and also a couple of roles in 'DS9,' the last of which, a Jem'Hadar in Season 4's 'To The Death,' was nine years before this episode! J. Michael Flynn, the actor playing the engineer or scientist who keeps getting badgered to fix the ship, Nijil (I want him to be a Romulan called Nigel!), had also appeared before, in a 'TNG' and an 'Enterprise' Season 1 episode ('Fallen Hero'), so the Trek repertory company idea had not been altogether lost. And who could forget Lee Arenberg, so successful as a Ferengi in 'TNG' and 'DS9,' (and was also in a 'Voyager'), as the Tellarite ambassador, Gral (oddly, this was also the name of his first role in 'The Nagus' - I wonder if that was intentional or a bizarre coincidence?). So a fine cast had assembled for one of the best three-parters of the series, and it was exciting to see what would happen next!

***

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

DVD, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) film

I don't know what version of the book Peter Jackson has, but it bears very little relation to mine, and, I think, Tolkien's! The book is getting on for eighty years old, so I suppose they thought everything was well known enough, giving them reason not to 'bore us' with what we already know (despite that being the reason we're watching the film in the first place!), to rush through all the parts true to the story so they could get back to what they clearly enjoyed most, which was inventing. If they were so keen on creating within Tolkien's world could they not have made up some legend set back in the dark times of his history that we know nothing of, rather than messing up a perfectly good story? And that's what it's all about: I'm not sore at extra characters or added scenes if they advance the plot, but the trouble is it is badly written, like so many blockbusters of our time, filling in space while we build to the next 3D action set-piece. I really wasn't angry. I wasn't even disappointed, because forewarned is forearmed, and after the major depression of the first film, I had all but given up the series. Indeed, I didn't see it at the cinema because I knew I wouldn't enjoy it (not to £10 level, anyway), something I couldn't have imagined a decade ago! I thought I'd probably see it in a few years time when it eventually came to Freeview. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), I was given both films on DVD by a family member who knew they weren't likely to watch them again. So now I'm the proud owner of both films, and I almost question why!

Looking back on my first 'Hobbit' review, I felt perhaps I'd been unnecessarily harsh to the filmmakers, criticism is, after all, subjective. But seeing that film again confirmed my initial opinion that these films were bloating the tale out of all proportion in order to attempt to reach the critical and commercial success of 'The Lord of The Rings,' something that in my view became the best film trilogy ever, beating even 'Star Wars' to the crown. But that was a wrongheaded approach in all ways except the one that really matters: making tons of cash. Like Smaug, they were happy to lie on their spoils and snooze, guaranteed to rake in the undemanding public's money (not that they didn't put great hours of effort into it, I'm sure, and not that Smaug raked in money from below-par films, but a sleeping giant, bathing in the glory of past victories seems a fitting analogy for the man at the top, if a little insulting, though it's nothing personal). The point of all this is that I knew what I was going to get with this film, but not in the way I thought, or hoped I knew, what I was going to get with the first film (make sense?), which could have been a worthy successor and prequel to some truly great films, while also dramatising a wonderful, though smaller, story. That's not what happened, but it was necessary to visit this second instalment, even though I no longer cared, because, like a mountain, it was there.

Yes, there were sure to be subplots and side-quests and all the trappings of someone guiding the story who felt Tolkien's work wasn't enough to thrill modern audiences, but I was surprised at the level of disregard for the story, with often the best parts (those that followed the narrative), rushed through so we could get to Jackson's invented story lines, such as the romance of Kili and token female character, Tauriel the Elf-maiden, and of course, continuing the 'exciting' tale of Azog tracking Thorin. One thing that had been a draw for me before these films had come out, was seeing what Gandalf did when he left the dwarves at the edge of Mirkwood. Turns out he just met up with Radagast, popped over to Dol Guldur, and had a battle of light and dark with the black cloud that is Sauron at this time (another example of a misguided approach, as battling Sauron, or even seeing him, except for the historical figure, was avoided in the first trilogy, for good reason). And he's captured! Will he survive to wizard another day? While the makers seem to assume everyone knows the story so there's really no need for details on the original narrative side, thus losing the mystery, they realised it was quicker to tell rather than show and just have people spout off all this plot so we can just get on with the next all-action spectacular. Yet the action is generally the boring part, with the only sequence of passing interest to me being the invented Elf and Orc riverside battle as the dwarves barrel along to freedom (the difference between prose and film is shown in Bombur's big moment: in the book it's causing trouble by touching an enchanted stream and falling asleep - in this he's a whirling dervish in a barrel!).

The worst culprit is the finale with Smaug, letting go the charm and courage of the book in favour of dwarves dashing about Smaug's great halls in different directions like a comedy, or a cartoon. Despite him being about a hundred times their size, they keep outrunning and outmanoeuvring the beast, so that even his blasting fire-breath never gets them (except for one moment when the back of Thorin's coat catches fire, but it's okay as he just shrugs it off and carries on!). It's laughable that Smaug The Magnificent could be dealt with in this way, all an excuse to show off the dwarves in their natural environment, working levers and pulleys like Wallace & Gromit, for all their mechanical might! How they had time to set up all these things isn't explained, but in the end it's all for nothing, as they try to take out Smaug by covering him in melted gold, which they do, but he just flies off. It's all to provide a visual climax to the film, and that's its problem: being so concerned with sticking to the convention of a film rising to a climax, raising the stakes here and there; a quiet moment must be followed by action; that it becomes a jumbled mass of almost meaningless rides, like Bilbo sliding down Smaug's hoard. I didn't connect with any of the characters, there's no sense of Bilbo finding courage like in the book when it says that the moment in the tunnel was his bravest, as he dared to go down against all his inner desires. In the film, it just happens, the dwarves aren't even nervous about entering the secret doorway, Balin even having a friendly chat with the burglar as he sees him off!

Nothing happens that makes you care, so the story becomes boring. We know the story, so to see a substandard retelling of it, with added fighting, doesn't do much to keep the attention. Take Beorn, in the books a mysterious character who Gandalf is wary of, showing his cunning by introducing the dwarves a few at a time, so as to keep the man's favour. In this, they're chased into his barn by Beorn in bear form, which is no secret, Gandalf tells them all right away. So rather than have this mysterious protector as they make their way to Mirkwood, they all know everything. Beorn (is he Swedish? Transylvanian?), doesn't give two hoots that a load of dwarves have used his barn, he's happy to play waiter and pour out the milk. It seems he can't control himself when in bear form, and he's not shy about giving his backstory, either. Same as Smaug tells Bilbo everything that's going on; that evil is awakening, battle is coming, that sort of thing (or again, Sauron with Gandalf). He knows all about Thorin and there's no learning or uncovering, everyone just knows or gets told in the dullest way. How Smaug knows so much, we're not privy to, since he's supposed to have slept since long ages past. But back to Beorn: they rush through that bit, then they're at the forest of Mirkwood, which isn't so dark and threatening, neither is there much of a path, or magical feeling to it, except for them all getting drunk on claustrophobia, which, to be fair wasn't badly done because it gave Jackson an excuse to do some interesting visual tricks.

I suppose it's impossible to give us close to what we imagine of the books, which is what makes them special, but to not even try, and to show such eagerness towards their own invented parts away from the story, is very sad and demoralising. That is, it would be if I'd gone into it with any care. I already knew about the growing love between Tauriel and Kili, and pretty silly it was. I didn't mind her, even though her presence was as a token, and unnecessary. But as with the first film they tried to harken back to 'LOTR' scenes: Tauriel is this trilogy's Arwen, there to heal Kili in his time of need, as light shines around her; Gandalf takes on the Balrog on the bridge, only this time it's Sauron; I even expected the 'lighting of the beacons' in the form of the 'special' arrow (the only one that can kill Smaug), which sits atop the tallest tower in Lake Town, being reached probably only by some small person, as it was guarded, like the beacon in Minas Tirith. But we didn't get to that part of the story, so I suspect that will happen in part three. Lake Town, and scenes there weren't bad, but it would be difficult to mess that up as it's a town on a lake. It was fair enough to flesh Bard out, though at the cost of, yet again, mystery. Rather than a dark figure that rises to prominence he's early on a sometime ally of the dwarves and has this history and knowledge of a special arrow, as well as three kiddies and a dead wife. Compared to most inventions that didn't matter. The Orc attack on the dwarves left behind at the town (another invention from nowhere), made less sense - why didn't the townsfolk hear the commotion in their midst, and rally?

I was also surprised that Stephen Fry didn't make the Master a 'big' character as I'd expected when I heard of his casting. He seems almost vacant, and I wonder if Fry was as disappointed with the treatment of the book as I was? If Lake Town was a plus point, I would also say the same for the opening in Bree for Thorin's first meeting with Gandalf. This kind of 'LOTR' crossover scene was what I was looking for in films where the real story's treatment had become unappealing. It was a little disconcerting the film didn't open with some grand and exciting moment, such as 'The Two Towers' did so well, but I can hardly criticise non-action when I keep mentioning how the action drained the story away! I was immediately thinking things like 'where's Butterbur?' then remembering that this is decades in the past, and he wouldn't even have been born yet! It wasn't until the end credits that I realised the nasty-looking men eyeing Thorin up were related to Bill Ferny and his cronies, which was a nice touch. It's well known that Viggo Mortensen was asked if he'd like to be a part of the trilogy, but didn't want to, as Aragorn would be so young (and he was probably right to turn it down), but if he had been a part of it I could see it being in a sequence such as this. While the first film had old Bilbo, Frodo, Galadriel, Saruman, Elrond, the Witch-King and Gollum, in this we were limited to only Legolas (a more severe, unhappy Elf than we're used to, which actually felt quite fitting considering his Father, King Thranduil) making the transition, which felt strange.

Perhaps they'd scaled back their plans for maximum connectivity to 'LOTR,' or perhaps they're saving more cameos for the last film - if there was more set between the trilogies, I'd be more interested to see it, as I already know the story they should be following is going to be a train-wreck going by these first two as a guide. But there were other things to appreciate, it wasn't completely 'The Hobbit: Desolation of The Book': Though overall I was very underwhelmed by the Mirkwood part of the story (looked more like a small wood than a great forest), another rushed part of the tale, with the wit and ingenuity again sucked out, Bilbo climbing above the trees was nice, feeling the fresh wind on his face. It was undermined somewhat by not feeling the length of time they're supposed to be in there (I suspect this was in part a reaction to the slow, steady, and more true to the book, opening of the first film, at which much criticism seemed to be levelled, but which I enjoyed most!). It was also lacking in Bilbo's big moment (again, reminiscent of an 'LOTR' scene: Frodo's encounter with Shelob and the scrabble in the webbing), but what I did like was that he heard what they were saying once he had the ring on. It's been a couple of years since I read the book, and I think that was in there, but if not, it was an excellent addition, and a subtle touch that was largely missing from the film. The Elven feasts and the magic of the Elves in the book is all excised (perhaps it's in the extended DVD?), a bit like the scouring of the Shire in 'LOTR,' but I kind of missed it, even if it is a bit odd.

I'm not sure how they could have shown time passing in the Elven cells, but I'm sure they could have found a way, they just chose not to, and kept things moving as if getting to the Mountain was a headlong sprint rather than a marathon. Like everything else, the Mountain was suddenly there, and because time passes exceedingly quick or they do things super-fast, you don't get a feeling of the end of a long journey. The music throughout didn't help and I've been largely unimpressed by Howard Shore's work in these films, but there were a couple of pieces I did connect with, one being Tauriel talking of brighter, better things, and the moment Bard speaks the legendary poem of the King under the Mountain. Such 'high' moments were brought down by some serious toilet humour carried over from the first film. The difference between these films and 'LOTR' are the same as between the original three 'Wallace & Gromit's, and their subsequent films - an element of innuendo and the gross sometimes replaces goodhearted, perhaps old-fashioned, fun. In this they literally climb up Bard's latrine to enter his house! You can get away with this to some extent as dwarves are known for bad manners, and what you can refer to in passing in a book is more likely to be shown on screen, but it was another little peg downwards. But you can ignore minor moments like this, when others are impossible to ignore and difficult to comprehend: Smaug can see Bilbo, since he foolishly takes off his ring! Why doesn't he eat him right away? They keep chatting, and it all makes Smaug seem like no big deal.

To recap: it is action over story, ludicrousness over sense, CGI over real, invented over written word, desperate callbacks to a time when Middle-Earth films were good, mismanaged humour, and a sense of time passing slowly at the same time as key moments are rushed through, mercifully short, but feeling like an extended version of 'LOTR,' but with pacing a problem, and content, and then an abrupt end. That's it. We have to hold more over for the third film. Is it a cliffhanger, with Smaug heading to destroy Lake Town? Not really, because there's only Bard's family there which we have any reason to care for (why were the Master's men chasing him, since they know where he lives?!). Azog has far outlived his usefulness, which was almost zero in the first place, and I finally realised why I don't take to most of the Orcs in this film as I did to the ones in 'LOTR' - because those were almost all real people in superb prosthetics, and the majority of these, including main characters, are CGI. Did they learn nothing from the 'Star Wars' prequels? Oh yes. Yes they did: they learnt how to make money, and this did its job. I just don't think in future decades it will be remembered fondly by anyone except those who were children when they saw it and have nostalgia for it. Unlike 'LOTR,' which I predict will live on as some of the greatest fantasy films in history.

**