DVD, Star Trek: The Animated Series (The Practical Joker)
Very much an example of a children's cartoon, this is probably the type of episode Gene Roddenberry was thinking of when he decreed 'TAS' should not be considered canon. It's not that it's a bad episode, nor can it even be described as going far from the kind of stories its parent series would have done, but perhaps when Gene was trying to get a new series on its own two feet he'd developed a more serious mindset to what Trek should be, a bit more dignity for the characters, and this was the kind of thing that wasn't really portraying them in the best light. The story is one of the earliest examples of the starship computer itself developing some kind of personality issue - it had been done before in 'TOS' where the computer had become amorous towards the Captain, and would be explored again in future Trek series' (the 'TNG' episode 'Emergence' springs to mind as an example of a similar story done in a more thoughtful manner), even stories when the system goes haywire and turns on our crew are in the same template ('Civil Defence' might be an example, or 'Pup' from 'The Forsaken,' both 'DS9'). In this case it's the Enterprise computer turning into the practical joker of the title.
I was half expecting Trelane to make a return since they've been happy to bring back various characters from the old series, and it would have been a natural stepping stone from there to Q in 'TNG,' something Roddenberry had kept in mind, but no, it really is just the computer, the result of travelling through an energy field (that old chestnut), while escaping a trio of Romulan ships. Or… were they Klingon ships? I was put off for a moment when I saw these apparently Klingon vessels firing at our starship since what happened to the Organian Peace Treaty from 'Errand of Mercy,' that mysterious decree that the Federation and Klingon Empire should cease open hostility to each other and prevented them from using weapons against the other? I can't remember if that was observed in the latter episodes of 'TOS,' so maybe they weren't bound by that plot development, but it was a moot point anyway when it became apparent they were actually Romulans - not only were they observing canon, they were reiterating it, because as we found out in later 'TOS' the Romulans began using Klingon ships as part of their own treaty with the race! In reality it was a money-saving exercise so they could have the Romulans and still use their swanky Klingon model which had been built at great expense, but you wouldn't think that would be an issue for an animated series. But even animated ships need to be drawn, so perhaps this was a reuse of previous images?
Either way it doesn't matter as the Romulans don't play a significant part in the story, other than as an impetus for our crew to try and escape by going through this dangerous energy field. And then the jokes start and keep coming, whether it be the Food Synthesisers spitting out meals all over Scotty, or the Food Synthesisers sending out joke glasses that spill drinks down our dining crew when they tip them up (so are they saying the computer creates matter like a Replicator - I always assumed it was a sort of conveyor belt system of hand-prepared food, or at the most the food was 'synthesised,' but the tableware was already there), to the Holodeck turning on McCoy, Sulu and Uhura… It's all technology related, as would make sense for things operated by the computer, but wait up! A Holodeck? This is probably the biggest canon breach (not seen again as egregiously until the canon-smashing 'Discovery'), of the series, another reason why it's best to see 'TAS' as merely an alternate way to enjoy some Trek, like the novels or comics, and not something that really ties into the history we know: because in 'TNG' the Enterprise-D's Holodeck was brand new and unfamiliar to the crew, whereas if they had them back on the Constitution-class it rather takes the sheen off and doesn't really fit with the 23rd Century's tone of wagon train frontier mentality.
It wasn't actually called a Holodeck, they call it a 'Rec Room,' an idea that would be expanded to a 'Rec Deck' for 'The Motion Picture,' though without any sign of artificial environments when that film could easily have done something like that when Decker was showing the Ilia Probe around. The trio of McCoy, Sulu and Uhura go in and decide to have a walk in the forest - unlike the Holodeck they go in first and operate a central console inside, but it sounds like the same idea: for example, when they want to get out as the place malfunctions, Uhura suggests going in one direction until they hit a wall, but wouldn't the floor move in time with their movements so they never bump into a wall? That would be the Holodeck way. It's also unclear how they were able to fall down a pit of the computer's making since that would put them below the level of the room's floor! It's very much designed to appeal to a child's level, which the series was designed for, but where many 'TAS' episodes are more serious or mature for the audience they were aiming at, this one really plays up the jokes, so it may be a little tiresome to adult eyes. There are of course things that couldn't have been done, at least not without great time and expense, on 'TOS,' such as the loss of gravity - Scotty crawling along the ceiling (great to see Engineering), or the Bridge crew floating around.
We also get both Arex (who even sits in the Captain's Chair at one point), and M'Ress, both in speaking roles - James Doohan and Majel Barrett, as usual, though for a change there are guest voices for at least three other characters I counted (two Romulans and an Enterprise crewman), while Barrett also does her usual computer voice and manages to perform different laughs for the computer and M'Ress. Scotty is moved to swear, which was quite a surprise on a children's cartoon, but I think Mudd had said the same word already and American audiences perhaps didn't consider it a swearword, just an expression of the parent country. And that's about all there is to say about it, other than Kirk gets to trick another computer to save the day, hamming it up pretending to be terrified of going back into the energy field so the computer will deliberately take him there, and that somehow sorts out the problem, while in a 'The Trouble With Tribbles' kind of turnaround, the Romulans get the problem instead when they follow, leading to a traditional 'TOS' ending of everyone on the Bridge having a good laugh. That's the most you can say about the episode, really, it was a bit of a laugh - it is nice to see all the characters and it's essentially a bottle episode since it all takes place on the ship (even if they do have forests, blizzards and hedge mazes thanks to the Rec Room).
**
Tuesday, 25 January 2022
Newton's Run
DVD, BUGS S2 (Newton's Run)
This was never one of my favourites, as fun as it is, probably because it doesn't feature much in the way of actual pulse-pounding tension. It should do, with the threat of the city being blown sky-high by a secret government weapons dump full of atomic, biological and chemical warheads, all stored together in close proximity for the coming of World War III. But the areas with most potential, the idea of governments secretly disobeying treaties and believing that the middle of a city is the best place to keep such weapons in order to keep it quiet, or the idea of computer controlled animals (and people?), wasn't explored so that it became more like some teatime children's series rather than the primetime Saturday night drama that it really was. Saying that, I'm sure it would have appealed to the younger viewers with a cute dog, Newton, being at the centre of it. But my first thought when they were talking about the bio-mechanical technology was that if it weren't for the friendly and caring Dr. Kim and dedicated Dr. Siegel (Siegal on screen in the episode, Siegel in the end credits), we might be suspicious of this Austin Institute, no matter how good the logo is. The goal is to help people with missing limbs and that kind of thing, so it's a worthy aspiration, but turning animals into robots (as Beckett put it), had a slightly sinister tinge. You'd just need the same bureaucratic mind that thought nuclear warheads in a city was a good idea, to wonder if animals as weapons might become a possibility…
Was that reference to the 'bureaucratic mind' a veiled reference to the Bureau of Weapons, coming immediately after Roland Blatty's organisation returned in 'Schrodinger's Bomb,' and immediately before they'd return again in the final two episodes of the season? Mind you, I'm seeing hints everywhere: the first thing I thought on seeing the Ai logo of the Institute (after admiring the design), was to wonder if this was a hint for the coming story: AI - artificial intelligence. Probably just a coincidence, just as having a story featuring the concept of Schrodinger's Cat preceded a story about a dog named after a famous scientist. Why was this female dog given a male name, anyway? The Bureau should have been involved as this would seem to be exactly their territory, dealing with weapons technology, that is what they're called, after all, but for whatever reason, possibly because they were already tied up with the Jean-Daniel storyline, and this was designed to be a completely standalone story, a pause before leaping into the storm of the two-part finale, they chose to bring back Wence and his SSD team who had been a mild thorn in the side during the first year's 'Shotgun Wedding.' Back when I first saw it I hadn't seen anything earlier than 'Bugged Wheat,' the third episode of Season 2, so I didn't know Wence, and that does add a little extra layer of significance to the story, especially as, for some reason (probably his incompetence!), he didn't come back for SSD's third appearance, in Season 3.
Wence is even more unhelpful than Blatty, it has to be said, and doesn't even bat an eye at the idea his superiors have sanctioned this sneaky weapons dump, as if he's used to a certain level of corruption and accepts it if it's in the national interest. He's deliberately shown to be stuffy so as to butt up against our heroes' freelance nature, allowing for bickering back and forth as a result. But he doesn't even have the courage of his convictions in those attitudes - he's about to leave Gizmos (which was a briefly confusing scene in itself as one moment we're at some flat where the villainous bikers of the week had their base, complete with red walls, then suddenly we're at Gizmos, also with red walls), so we know he accompanied them back to their HQ even though he seemed adamant they needed to get out of his (noticeably thinning), hair? Then Ros is looking at the screensaver which will later be cunningly revealed to be coded by its colours, Wence demands the disc, is on his way out, and at Beckett's insistence he owes them something he comes back and gives them a disc of information. So he's warned them off and then he's working with them, and eventually he decides it's best if they solve the problem on their own! No wonder he was ousted as Commander of SSD! It's like he can't help but share vital information, and then he backs away from it all because it would be too embarrassing to reveal the existence of this secret, and probably illegal, weapons dump. It makes no sense.
The villains themselves could just as well have threatened to reveal the existence of the dump to the world as blow it up, it would have had the same impact. They themselves, led by Alkmaar, are supposedly eco-terrorists, they want certain things to be done, but at the same time they're happy to cause the things they're against, described as short term damage for long term gain (I quite liked the idea they'd been building up to bigger crimes, starting with an oil spill by taking out an oil tanker, and now threatening citywide armageddon). It's never really clear if they have any principles or whether it's all a sham to grab power through money - we're told Alkmaar, and his Nordic Front, will go to any lengths to blackmail for money so that they can set up a breakaway state, so perhaps the eco side was truly a front for the Front. Alkmaar himself sounds possibly Scottish, or just northern English, as does one of his cronies (Korvig, played by Ralph Ineson who's gone on to be in so many things to this day, as a number of guest stars from the series have), and though they go by Scandinavian names I wonder if they're just adopted monickers as part of their organisation, though Nordic does mean North since it comes from the French word, nord, it doesn't matter what North!
The villains were among the weaker examples, although they make fearsome pursuers, zipping around on their dirt bikes in their distinctive colours (all black except for streaks of red, blue or yellow, respectively - even the villains are following some kind of clothing colour code this time!), but it makes me wonder why Ed's biking wasn't brought into the equation - I can imagine him being at the head of an epic chase across the city with these three bikers hunting him, perhaps with the hapless SSD on their tail at the same time. Instead we get Beckett taking Newton for her titular run, notable for using the 'Rapid Transit System' as Ed describes it, otherwise known as the Docklands Light Railway, or DLR. Ed isn't quite himself in this episode: not only does he never get on a bike once, or have anything to say about the fact that those they're up against are bikers, one of his own defining characteristics, he also shows great tact and care when dealing with Wence! Who is this Ed? He makes sure to call him 'Commander' when he humbly and courteously offers up his idea of… um, I'll come back to the idea in a sec, but he suggests taking Newton for walkies and having the SSD convoy as decoy. They like to switch the roles around from episode to episode, but this was really the one where Beckett got the lion's share of all the action, the only thing Ed got to do was fight Korvig (once again forgetting to use the advanced martial arts skills we know he has, or was it that his opponent was also skilled and cancelled him out?).
Beckett's the one who's taken to Newton (to the extent that Ros and Ed are disgusted when he invites her to dinner with them at the end, allowing the dog to sit up to table, which was most amusing), so he's the one that goes on the run, though he was most careless in losing his charge. The idea seemed to be a bad one from the start: why risk the dog at all when you could just have armed SSD guards keep vigil over it. There were only three enemies to deal with, after all, no matter if they are armed with the typical futuristic weapon of choice for Season 2: a Taser that fires bolts of energy! If we keep going along this line you have to wonder why they needed to use SSD as a decoy since they were heavily armed and had all the resources of the Department behind them, surely they could handle three miscreants. It would have been different if we'd seen a force of soldiers Alkmaar had at his command, but we didn't. And really, no one was going to be fooled by Beckett taking doggie for a walk, were they, since they knew what Newton looked like! That wasn't the last of the questionable decisions in the episode, or perhaps we can put it down to the writing (I didn't recognise the name of the writer of this one).
I know 'BUGS' is frequently ridiculous and you have suspend disbelief, but not content with the Taser blasters, they also allow Alkmaar perfect aim to hit Newton's lead at a distance, just at the moment it was taut, and she runs off (the actual run of the title). The biggest question is over Wence's decision to wash his hands of the affair and leave it to our team without backup. And how did Alkmaar even know about this top secret Facility 47 in the first place? It's not like we saw him gathering intel. Then we have moments such as Ros being chased by Tangsen, climbing between the tanker that is their mobile HQ (so why did they need the flat?), and the cab, while her pursuer crawls underneath, enabling her to drop a tyre on him! It doesn't look that heavy since it's tottering slightly when he's supposed to be crushed under it. Then there's the usual issue of villains not simply killing our heroes, but giving them a chance to escape (otherwise the series would have ended!), with the lackeys throwing a bomb at Ed and Beckett once they're cornered. Not very efficient as it put their own lives at risk and gave their victims time to get away when a simple shot from the Taser would seemingly kill (more in a moment). What was Ed's plan in the warehouse - Beckett's going to track down Newton using a dog whistle, Ed thinks he can do it faster with the remote control, but ends up whistling himself! And the dog cam, which looked good, would have been obscured by the fluffy fur around it. These all smack of script ideas that couldn't come to fruition in the actual filming, so maybe it was directing that was at fault? Except Brian Farnham was experienced at making the series. Maybe it can be put down to the production getting a little weary after so much shooting in the dark and cold across eight episodes, though they were able to raise their game back to the top with the subsequent two episodes.
The power of the villains' weaponry is also an issue: these Taser weapons, or perhaps they should be called electro-guns, kill poor Dr. Siegel in the storming of the Austin Institute, the raid that goes wrong and results in our team being called in. Is the Institute really as sensitive as it seems: the lab has a panic button in it, yet there's no indication that they deal with anything more deadly than a dog, and there are even armed guards on the premises! Do many scientific establishments have that? Anyway, the implication is that Siegel died, but that doesn't necessarily mean the hand weapons were that powerful, he might have had a bad heart. Except later, Ed appears to have killed Korvig in their struggle in the control room - he didn't seem to have a lot of choice, may not even have known the power of the gun, but he shoots Korvig and the only time we see him after that is lying on the floor, sightless eyes staring upwards! I was quite surprised that Ed was allowed to kill him, but then the other two are also dealt with in similar manner: Alkmaar is trapped in the tanker and Tangsen remains lying underneath the tyre, which is just below the tanker, while their own bomb (the usual poetic justice), has been dropped right there. You'd think the tanker was full of explosives the way it erupts, rather than sensitive computing equipment, but it was a beautiful explosion, I'll give them that! Surely Ros and Beckett should have pulled the villains clear to face justice, but I suppose they didn't know how many seconds were on the clock and self-preservation took over. Sometimes there's some ambiguity over whether they were responsible for the death of their enemies, but Ed at least (in self defence), clearly was on this occasion and the others could have pulled Tangsen clear…
I liked Beckett's reasoning that the intruders weren't after the knowledge or theory of the bio-mechanical tech, but the specific application of the dog, and the little guest star is adorable, they chose the right mutt for the role, it's just that the story doesn't hang together all that well when viewed with a critical eye instead of a relaxed Saturday evening doze as I imagine much of the population received it. And there isn't much in the episode to disturb such a doze, the characteristic thrills aren't as evident. Sure, we have Beckett being chased by men on bikes (why didn't the one that was close to him simply leap off his machine and pursue through the gap - bike leathers and helmet too bulky to fit?), and it was great seeing Ros do a nice one-eighty skid in her yellow car to go back for him. I also felt the 3D computer graphics simulation of the layout for the facility was impressive for its day, something we're increasingly seeing as the series goes on and technology progresses. And I do enjoy Wence, for all his bungling (he even gets captured by Alkmaar, somehow!), though having him and Ros tied up at Gizmos seemed a little derivative, we'd already seen it happen several times by this point (Beckett and Selina in 'Whirling Dervish,' Roland and Ed, in 'Schrodinger's Bomb' for two examples this season), so perhaps that was a moment Alkmaar needed to kill someone, Wence being the obvious sacrificial lamb. Not that I'd want him to die, but they never brought him back again.
'Schrodinger's Bomb' kept coming to mind in the episode (such as when you see the steel-barred door to the animals at the Institute, ripped right out of Dr. Neumann's museum), and not just as an example of how to do the series at its best, but things like Beckett saying he had no time to disarm the bomb, whose timer had gone down to seven minutes, yet in that previous episode he was confident of disarming two other bombs in thirty seconds! I know, they're different types of device, but it shows the difference in confidence levels and makes this story seem lesser. Interesting to hear Ros say the villains' file was half a gigabyte in size, which must have been rather big back then, a file of that size isn't exactly tiny now! Ros herself got to do her usual computer wizardry, and despite the tanker being a bit so-so as a mobile HQ (we never got to see it in motion - how about Alkmaar trying to get away by crashing through an SSD roadblock with Ros or Ed holding on for dear life on top?), I liked its internal setup. As I did the way they tracked Alkmaar's group using this bioengineered fluorescent agent which had marked them when they fled, including the rationale that it was there in case animals escaped. Of course 'smart paint' is in use all over the place now, as a deterrent to thieves, so they were ahead of the curve there (and it made sense since they were a scientific institute).
We find out SSD stands for 'Special Services Department' as there's a logo on the wall when Wence brings them in, so the details, though sparse, are there to be picked up - there's another reference to Beckett's previous career (even pre-Hive), when an annoyed Wence says he can see why his career in Marine Command stalled, although their's is another organisation (like the energy company Kanin worked for), who like to blow the doors off as the most pertinent means of entry. Fortunately it wasn't Gizmos this time, though we do get a repeat of the last time someone showed up to use the intercom - in 'Pulse' JD blasts the place, this time Alkmaar uses a captive Wence to gain entry. Ros looks stylish as ever (as opposed to Season 1), in a fetching mauve coat and square blue earrings, while Beckett sticks with his mustard shirt and Ed with a red shirt under his standard leather jacket. Both the Jeep and Ros' car get a little use, and the team do mostly work closely together except for when Beckett's out in the field. And I do like it, it just doesn't come together as well as it should, or could, and its placement between two of the series' best episodes makes it hard to see as anything more than merely good.
***
This was never one of my favourites, as fun as it is, probably because it doesn't feature much in the way of actual pulse-pounding tension. It should do, with the threat of the city being blown sky-high by a secret government weapons dump full of atomic, biological and chemical warheads, all stored together in close proximity for the coming of World War III. But the areas with most potential, the idea of governments secretly disobeying treaties and believing that the middle of a city is the best place to keep such weapons in order to keep it quiet, or the idea of computer controlled animals (and people?), wasn't explored so that it became more like some teatime children's series rather than the primetime Saturday night drama that it really was. Saying that, I'm sure it would have appealed to the younger viewers with a cute dog, Newton, being at the centre of it. But my first thought when they were talking about the bio-mechanical technology was that if it weren't for the friendly and caring Dr. Kim and dedicated Dr. Siegel (Siegal on screen in the episode, Siegel in the end credits), we might be suspicious of this Austin Institute, no matter how good the logo is. The goal is to help people with missing limbs and that kind of thing, so it's a worthy aspiration, but turning animals into robots (as Beckett put it), had a slightly sinister tinge. You'd just need the same bureaucratic mind that thought nuclear warheads in a city was a good idea, to wonder if animals as weapons might become a possibility…
Was that reference to the 'bureaucratic mind' a veiled reference to the Bureau of Weapons, coming immediately after Roland Blatty's organisation returned in 'Schrodinger's Bomb,' and immediately before they'd return again in the final two episodes of the season? Mind you, I'm seeing hints everywhere: the first thing I thought on seeing the Ai logo of the Institute (after admiring the design), was to wonder if this was a hint for the coming story: AI - artificial intelligence. Probably just a coincidence, just as having a story featuring the concept of Schrodinger's Cat preceded a story about a dog named after a famous scientist. Why was this female dog given a male name, anyway? The Bureau should have been involved as this would seem to be exactly their territory, dealing with weapons technology, that is what they're called, after all, but for whatever reason, possibly because they were already tied up with the Jean-Daniel storyline, and this was designed to be a completely standalone story, a pause before leaping into the storm of the two-part finale, they chose to bring back Wence and his SSD team who had been a mild thorn in the side during the first year's 'Shotgun Wedding.' Back when I first saw it I hadn't seen anything earlier than 'Bugged Wheat,' the third episode of Season 2, so I didn't know Wence, and that does add a little extra layer of significance to the story, especially as, for some reason (probably his incompetence!), he didn't come back for SSD's third appearance, in Season 3.
Wence is even more unhelpful than Blatty, it has to be said, and doesn't even bat an eye at the idea his superiors have sanctioned this sneaky weapons dump, as if he's used to a certain level of corruption and accepts it if it's in the national interest. He's deliberately shown to be stuffy so as to butt up against our heroes' freelance nature, allowing for bickering back and forth as a result. But he doesn't even have the courage of his convictions in those attitudes - he's about to leave Gizmos (which was a briefly confusing scene in itself as one moment we're at some flat where the villainous bikers of the week had their base, complete with red walls, then suddenly we're at Gizmos, also with red walls), so we know he accompanied them back to their HQ even though he seemed adamant they needed to get out of his (noticeably thinning), hair? Then Ros is looking at the screensaver which will later be cunningly revealed to be coded by its colours, Wence demands the disc, is on his way out, and at Beckett's insistence he owes them something he comes back and gives them a disc of information. So he's warned them off and then he's working with them, and eventually he decides it's best if they solve the problem on their own! No wonder he was ousted as Commander of SSD! It's like he can't help but share vital information, and then he backs away from it all because it would be too embarrassing to reveal the existence of this secret, and probably illegal, weapons dump. It makes no sense.
The villains themselves could just as well have threatened to reveal the existence of the dump to the world as blow it up, it would have had the same impact. They themselves, led by Alkmaar, are supposedly eco-terrorists, they want certain things to be done, but at the same time they're happy to cause the things they're against, described as short term damage for long term gain (I quite liked the idea they'd been building up to bigger crimes, starting with an oil spill by taking out an oil tanker, and now threatening citywide armageddon). It's never really clear if they have any principles or whether it's all a sham to grab power through money - we're told Alkmaar, and his Nordic Front, will go to any lengths to blackmail for money so that they can set up a breakaway state, so perhaps the eco side was truly a front for the Front. Alkmaar himself sounds possibly Scottish, or just northern English, as does one of his cronies (Korvig, played by Ralph Ineson who's gone on to be in so many things to this day, as a number of guest stars from the series have), and though they go by Scandinavian names I wonder if they're just adopted monickers as part of their organisation, though Nordic does mean North since it comes from the French word, nord, it doesn't matter what North!
The villains were among the weaker examples, although they make fearsome pursuers, zipping around on their dirt bikes in their distinctive colours (all black except for streaks of red, blue or yellow, respectively - even the villains are following some kind of clothing colour code this time!), but it makes me wonder why Ed's biking wasn't brought into the equation - I can imagine him being at the head of an epic chase across the city with these three bikers hunting him, perhaps with the hapless SSD on their tail at the same time. Instead we get Beckett taking Newton for her titular run, notable for using the 'Rapid Transit System' as Ed describes it, otherwise known as the Docklands Light Railway, or DLR. Ed isn't quite himself in this episode: not only does he never get on a bike once, or have anything to say about the fact that those they're up against are bikers, one of his own defining characteristics, he also shows great tact and care when dealing with Wence! Who is this Ed? He makes sure to call him 'Commander' when he humbly and courteously offers up his idea of… um, I'll come back to the idea in a sec, but he suggests taking Newton for walkies and having the SSD convoy as decoy. They like to switch the roles around from episode to episode, but this was really the one where Beckett got the lion's share of all the action, the only thing Ed got to do was fight Korvig (once again forgetting to use the advanced martial arts skills we know he has, or was it that his opponent was also skilled and cancelled him out?).
Beckett's the one who's taken to Newton (to the extent that Ros and Ed are disgusted when he invites her to dinner with them at the end, allowing the dog to sit up to table, which was most amusing), so he's the one that goes on the run, though he was most careless in losing his charge. The idea seemed to be a bad one from the start: why risk the dog at all when you could just have armed SSD guards keep vigil over it. There were only three enemies to deal with, after all, no matter if they are armed with the typical futuristic weapon of choice for Season 2: a Taser that fires bolts of energy! If we keep going along this line you have to wonder why they needed to use SSD as a decoy since they were heavily armed and had all the resources of the Department behind them, surely they could handle three miscreants. It would have been different if we'd seen a force of soldiers Alkmaar had at his command, but we didn't. And really, no one was going to be fooled by Beckett taking doggie for a walk, were they, since they knew what Newton looked like! That wasn't the last of the questionable decisions in the episode, or perhaps we can put it down to the writing (I didn't recognise the name of the writer of this one).
I know 'BUGS' is frequently ridiculous and you have suspend disbelief, but not content with the Taser blasters, they also allow Alkmaar perfect aim to hit Newton's lead at a distance, just at the moment it was taut, and she runs off (the actual run of the title). The biggest question is over Wence's decision to wash his hands of the affair and leave it to our team without backup. And how did Alkmaar even know about this top secret Facility 47 in the first place? It's not like we saw him gathering intel. Then we have moments such as Ros being chased by Tangsen, climbing between the tanker that is their mobile HQ (so why did they need the flat?), and the cab, while her pursuer crawls underneath, enabling her to drop a tyre on him! It doesn't look that heavy since it's tottering slightly when he's supposed to be crushed under it. Then there's the usual issue of villains not simply killing our heroes, but giving them a chance to escape (otherwise the series would have ended!), with the lackeys throwing a bomb at Ed and Beckett once they're cornered. Not very efficient as it put their own lives at risk and gave their victims time to get away when a simple shot from the Taser would seemingly kill (more in a moment). What was Ed's plan in the warehouse - Beckett's going to track down Newton using a dog whistle, Ed thinks he can do it faster with the remote control, but ends up whistling himself! And the dog cam, which looked good, would have been obscured by the fluffy fur around it. These all smack of script ideas that couldn't come to fruition in the actual filming, so maybe it was directing that was at fault? Except Brian Farnham was experienced at making the series. Maybe it can be put down to the production getting a little weary after so much shooting in the dark and cold across eight episodes, though they were able to raise their game back to the top with the subsequent two episodes.
The power of the villains' weaponry is also an issue: these Taser weapons, or perhaps they should be called electro-guns, kill poor Dr. Siegel in the storming of the Austin Institute, the raid that goes wrong and results in our team being called in. Is the Institute really as sensitive as it seems: the lab has a panic button in it, yet there's no indication that they deal with anything more deadly than a dog, and there are even armed guards on the premises! Do many scientific establishments have that? Anyway, the implication is that Siegel died, but that doesn't necessarily mean the hand weapons were that powerful, he might have had a bad heart. Except later, Ed appears to have killed Korvig in their struggle in the control room - he didn't seem to have a lot of choice, may not even have known the power of the gun, but he shoots Korvig and the only time we see him after that is lying on the floor, sightless eyes staring upwards! I was quite surprised that Ed was allowed to kill him, but then the other two are also dealt with in similar manner: Alkmaar is trapped in the tanker and Tangsen remains lying underneath the tyre, which is just below the tanker, while their own bomb (the usual poetic justice), has been dropped right there. You'd think the tanker was full of explosives the way it erupts, rather than sensitive computing equipment, but it was a beautiful explosion, I'll give them that! Surely Ros and Beckett should have pulled the villains clear to face justice, but I suppose they didn't know how many seconds were on the clock and self-preservation took over. Sometimes there's some ambiguity over whether they were responsible for the death of their enemies, but Ed at least (in self defence), clearly was on this occasion and the others could have pulled Tangsen clear…
I liked Beckett's reasoning that the intruders weren't after the knowledge or theory of the bio-mechanical tech, but the specific application of the dog, and the little guest star is adorable, they chose the right mutt for the role, it's just that the story doesn't hang together all that well when viewed with a critical eye instead of a relaxed Saturday evening doze as I imagine much of the population received it. And there isn't much in the episode to disturb such a doze, the characteristic thrills aren't as evident. Sure, we have Beckett being chased by men on bikes (why didn't the one that was close to him simply leap off his machine and pursue through the gap - bike leathers and helmet too bulky to fit?), and it was great seeing Ros do a nice one-eighty skid in her yellow car to go back for him. I also felt the 3D computer graphics simulation of the layout for the facility was impressive for its day, something we're increasingly seeing as the series goes on and technology progresses. And I do enjoy Wence, for all his bungling (he even gets captured by Alkmaar, somehow!), though having him and Ros tied up at Gizmos seemed a little derivative, we'd already seen it happen several times by this point (Beckett and Selina in 'Whirling Dervish,' Roland and Ed, in 'Schrodinger's Bomb' for two examples this season), so perhaps that was a moment Alkmaar needed to kill someone, Wence being the obvious sacrificial lamb. Not that I'd want him to die, but they never brought him back again.
'Schrodinger's Bomb' kept coming to mind in the episode (such as when you see the steel-barred door to the animals at the Institute, ripped right out of Dr. Neumann's museum), and not just as an example of how to do the series at its best, but things like Beckett saying he had no time to disarm the bomb, whose timer had gone down to seven minutes, yet in that previous episode he was confident of disarming two other bombs in thirty seconds! I know, they're different types of device, but it shows the difference in confidence levels and makes this story seem lesser. Interesting to hear Ros say the villains' file was half a gigabyte in size, which must have been rather big back then, a file of that size isn't exactly tiny now! Ros herself got to do her usual computer wizardry, and despite the tanker being a bit so-so as a mobile HQ (we never got to see it in motion - how about Alkmaar trying to get away by crashing through an SSD roadblock with Ros or Ed holding on for dear life on top?), I liked its internal setup. As I did the way they tracked Alkmaar's group using this bioengineered fluorescent agent which had marked them when they fled, including the rationale that it was there in case animals escaped. Of course 'smart paint' is in use all over the place now, as a deterrent to thieves, so they were ahead of the curve there (and it made sense since they were a scientific institute).
We find out SSD stands for 'Special Services Department' as there's a logo on the wall when Wence brings them in, so the details, though sparse, are there to be picked up - there's another reference to Beckett's previous career (even pre-Hive), when an annoyed Wence says he can see why his career in Marine Command stalled, although their's is another organisation (like the energy company Kanin worked for), who like to blow the doors off as the most pertinent means of entry. Fortunately it wasn't Gizmos this time, though we do get a repeat of the last time someone showed up to use the intercom - in 'Pulse' JD blasts the place, this time Alkmaar uses a captive Wence to gain entry. Ros looks stylish as ever (as opposed to Season 1), in a fetching mauve coat and square blue earrings, while Beckett sticks with his mustard shirt and Ed with a red shirt under his standard leather jacket. Both the Jeep and Ros' car get a little use, and the team do mostly work closely together except for when Beckett's out in the field. And I do like it, it just doesn't come together as well as it should, or could, and its placement between two of the series' best episodes makes it hard to see as anything more than merely good.
***
Tuesday, 18 January 2022
Witness (2)
DVD, Smallville S2 (Witness) (2)
A conventional Smallville High School episode on the face of it, complete with 'monster' of the week, not terribly inspiring, and peppered with teen soap overblown feelings out of all proportion, indeed it could just as easily be called 'Jealous' for all the stuff revolving around poor Lana. And yet, for all that I was still drawn to this episode, it retained a warmth and positivity even amongst all the downers, something subsequent seasons increasingly failed to do, so although I wouldn't class it up there with the strong episodes, this was still a good watch and not the initially poor example of the series at its worst that it seemed. The school student who's using refined meteor rock to increase his strength along with a couple of other criminals reminded me of the tattooed guys from Season 1, except without all the adrenaline rush of chucking Whitney in front of an oncoming lorry, and they were the weakest part of the story since they had no real role other than to be a threat to Clark and his family. The lad is mainly a pawn in the growing adversity between Father and son Luthors and has no sympathetic backstory to his misdemeanours. That whole plot of them stealing the green bars and making a Kryptonite cocktail to inhale for super strength wasn't well developed and only makes its mark in the way the Kent parents are put in serious jeopardy.
Then when you add Chloe's final straw of blowing up at Clark and his not trying to make up as he usually would since he does have a lot to do with Lana at the moment and doesn't need his old friends as much, it could make the episode come across as quite a negative experience. I must admit, I do feel annoyed with people that say they'll do something by a certain time and then don't show up, I'm with Chloe on that, it's just that she comes across as ridiculously jealous of Lana. Clark for his part should have tried to be more understanding, but since we haven't had much of the Clark, Chloe and Pete gang this season, it doesn't have quite the same impact this would have done in Season 1 when they were always uncovering things together. That's one thing in this episode's favour: Chloe and Pete both contribute a little more - I do wonder how he and Clark transported the Kryptonite bars to the woods since the latter doesn't even stand close when Pete's burying them so they couldn't have shared a car to take them there (Clark probably ran, Pete drove, I expect). He's also there when Chloe finds them looking up the bad guy on the Torch's computers. It was tough on her to discover the school newspaper's office had been smashed up, but her reaction suggests it was more than that because we'd already seen the place destroyed at least once (the fire in 'Hothead'), maybe more, so her reaction was a bit much, but she was obviously at a vulnerable time.
And who should take advantage of that time than Lionel Luthor. I didn't really recall anything about this episode so it's no surprise I'd forgotten all about any connection between him and Chloe, especially this early in the series. I think it was just good to see him again after a few episodes absent. I think the implication is that he had some people mess up the Torch so he could come in and fund a rebuilding, which in itself is weird since surely the school has budget for such things? And are there no CCTV cameras at all? Anyway, she's at her lowest ebb, a time when Clark isn't there to warn her against Lionel, and he plants the seeds of cooperation by dangling contacts at the Daily Planet, and so the episode ends. Again, the implication I'd take is that Clark would be at risk more if Chloe was working for Lionel in some capacity so I suppose it was somewhat of a cliffhanger, though it's all very vague and about potential rather than definite reality. The other Luthor has some good screen time, too, for a change without Helen, verbally sparring with Dad as he used to. Funny how Lionel came when she was away, especially if she is actually working for him secretly as that would be a good time to visit Lex and make him seem much more distant to Helen, so a good plan. The moment I really liked about Lex was when he's talking casually to Clark, who's obviously got a bee in his bonnet, and then when he hears the bad guy he posted bail for has hurt the Kents he immediately snaps to the caring Lex we know, one who doesn't want harm to come to them.
There was a lot of potential drama right there, as if Lex had been responsible for loosing a criminal on the Kents and Martha had lost the baby or something else horrible like that, he'd never have forgiven himself. I'm glad he wasn't responsible for anything more than scaring them really, but still it was a shocking moment when Clark goes to the barn and finds them tied up high. His fight with the villains might be described as a little lacklustre, but I just liked the fact that he took them on, three to one, knowing they had the same strength. I suppose they didn't have his resilience since a bunch of pipes banging on his head wouldn't have mattered (as we see with the concrete block!). But if the other guy has the formula why couldn't he push himself out of the pipe Clark bends round him? For that matter why aren't any of them surprised to see him, especially the student guy, since they all chucked him in a furnace! It also makes zero sense that they never said anything about him to the authorities, why would they protect him? They wouldn't, is the answer to that one. All I can think is they felt foolish that Clark had been able to stop all three of them, but they must already realise he's special since he survived the furnace. It's because we, the audience know Clark can survive all kinds of things so they simply didn't think through what a natural reaction would be - cutting corners narratively.
The other side of the episode are Lana's problems. She's already caused her best mate Chloe's jealousy and now she finds out how jealous her real Father, Henry Small's wife, is. It's really nasty, but it's not like she was threatening to divorce him unless he ignore Lana, since it was by chance she saw the woman. I suppose she feels a kind of responsibility in some way that she came to talk to Lana, or was it merely guilt? I liked seeing Henry again, but he does seem as clueless as his wife warned he was earlier in the season. She was saying he moved from interest to interest rather than he was dim, but still, there were clearly problems even then, but he hasn't noticed so he does come across as someone with their head in the clouds, which is strange when you consider he's a practical man when it comes to law, an expert and activist, but his character is flawed. I don't know if this is his last ever appearance, a shame if so as that ended on a low point and I don't think he ever returned to the series later on, so it's one of those dropped plots that could have continued to add the personal touch and the intimate trouble rather than taking the series bigger and more fantastical as they did. It's like when Jonathan mentions taking Martha to a doctor in Metropolis and says he'll probably stay with Clark's Grandfather - they didn't get along and how is he going to explain leaving Clark at the mercy of these thugs?
Martha wasn't in it much, but there was one standout thing she said: about not allowing the knowledge of Clark's secret to be used to intimidate them into silence and doing what they should do, which was a good, moral point to make, though in the end they find a way around Clark getting involved, yet still informing the police about what happened. Ultimately it's the positive qualities that stood out to me on this occasion, where in the past I'd rated the episode quite low. It wasn't even that I had low expectations as I didn't know what to expect from the title. There was the self-sacrifice of Lana recommending Henry needs to talk to his wife and concentrate on her, there was obviously Lionel's contribution to proceedings (I couldn't help thinking of the last time he confronted a broken beam as he does at the Torch: when it was poised to skewer him at the Luthor Mansion during the storm at the end of the first season!), and generally a bright, upbeat tone despite all the soap and misery, and that's what makes the difference: for all that happens, at least things are happy between Clark and Lana, Clark and Lex, Clark and Pete, etc. But I really think Clark should have waited until Lex had finished his phone conversation before he clonked him on the back of the head as you'd think the person he was talking to might be suspicious!
***
A conventional Smallville High School episode on the face of it, complete with 'monster' of the week, not terribly inspiring, and peppered with teen soap overblown feelings out of all proportion, indeed it could just as easily be called 'Jealous' for all the stuff revolving around poor Lana. And yet, for all that I was still drawn to this episode, it retained a warmth and positivity even amongst all the downers, something subsequent seasons increasingly failed to do, so although I wouldn't class it up there with the strong episodes, this was still a good watch and not the initially poor example of the series at its worst that it seemed. The school student who's using refined meteor rock to increase his strength along with a couple of other criminals reminded me of the tattooed guys from Season 1, except without all the adrenaline rush of chucking Whitney in front of an oncoming lorry, and they were the weakest part of the story since they had no real role other than to be a threat to Clark and his family. The lad is mainly a pawn in the growing adversity between Father and son Luthors and has no sympathetic backstory to his misdemeanours. That whole plot of them stealing the green bars and making a Kryptonite cocktail to inhale for super strength wasn't well developed and only makes its mark in the way the Kent parents are put in serious jeopardy.
Then when you add Chloe's final straw of blowing up at Clark and his not trying to make up as he usually would since he does have a lot to do with Lana at the moment and doesn't need his old friends as much, it could make the episode come across as quite a negative experience. I must admit, I do feel annoyed with people that say they'll do something by a certain time and then don't show up, I'm with Chloe on that, it's just that she comes across as ridiculously jealous of Lana. Clark for his part should have tried to be more understanding, but since we haven't had much of the Clark, Chloe and Pete gang this season, it doesn't have quite the same impact this would have done in Season 1 when they were always uncovering things together. That's one thing in this episode's favour: Chloe and Pete both contribute a little more - I do wonder how he and Clark transported the Kryptonite bars to the woods since the latter doesn't even stand close when Pete's burying them so they couldn't have shared a car to take them there (Clark probably ran, Pete drove, I expect). He's also there when Chloe finds them looking up the bad guy on the Torch's computers. It was tough on her to discover the school newspaper's office had been smashed up, but her reaction suggests it was more than that because we'd already seen the place destroyed at least once (the fire in 'Hothead'), maybe more, so her reaction was a bit much, but she was obviously at a vulnerable time.
And who should take advantage of that time than Lionel Luthor. I didn't really recall anything about this episode so it's no surprise I'd forgotten all about any connection between him and Chloe, especially this early in the series. I think it was just good to see him again after a few episodes absent. I think the implication is that he had some people mess up the Torch so he could come in and fund a rebuilding, which in itself is weird since surely the school has budget for such things? And are there no CCTV cameras at all? Anyway, she's at her lowest ebb, a time when Clark isn't there to warn her against Lionel, and he plants the seeds of cooperation by dangling contacts at the Daily Planet, and so the episode ends. Again, the implication I'd take is that Clark would be at risk more if Chloe was working for Lionel in some capacity so I suppose it was somewhat of a cliffhanger, though it's all very vague and about potential rather than definite reality. The other Luthor has some good screen time, too, for a change without Helen, verbally sparring with Dad as he used to. Funny how Lionel came when she was away, especially if she is actually working for him secretly as that would be a good time to visit Lex and make him seem much more distant to Helen, so a good plan. The moment I really liked about Lex was when he's talking casually to Clark, who's obviously got a bee in his bonnet, and then when he hears the bad guy he posted bail for has hurt the Kents he immediately snaps to the caring Lex we know, one who doesn't want harm to come to them.
There was a lot of potential drama right there, as if Lex had been responsible for loosing a criminal on the Kents and Martha had lost the baby or something else horrible like that, he'd never have forgiven himself. I'm glad he wasn't responsible for anything more than scaring them really, but still it was a shocking moment when Clark goes to the barn and finds them tied up high. His fight with the villains might be described as a little lacklustre, but I just liked the fact that he took them on, three to one, knowing they had the same strength. I suppose they didn't have his resilience since a bunch of pipes banging on his head wouldn't have mattered (as we see with the concrete block!). But if the other guy has the formula why couldn't he push himself out of the pipe Clark bends round him? For that matter why aren't any of them surprised to see him, especially the student guy, since they all chucked him in a furnace! It also makes zero sense that they never said anything about him to the authorities, why would they protect him? They wouldn't, is the answer to that one. All I can think is they felt foolish that Clark had been able to stop all three of them, but they must already realise he's special since he survived the furnace. It's because we, the audience know Clark can survive all kinds of things so they simply didn't think through what a natural reaction would be - cutting corners narratively.
The other side of the episode are Lana's problems. She's already caused her best mate Chloe's jealousy and now she finds out how jealous her real Father, Henry Small's wife, is. It's really nasty, but it's not like she was threatening to divorce him unless he ignore Lana, since it was by chance she saw the woman. I suppose she feels a kind of responsibility in some way that she came to talk to Lana, or was it merely guilt? I liked seeing Henry again, but he does seem as clueless as his wife warned he was earlier in the season. She was saying he moved from interest to interest rather than he was dim, but still, there were clearly problems even then, but he hasn't noticed so he does come across as someone with their head in the clouds, which is strange when you consider he's a practical man when it comes to law, an expert and activist, but his character is flawed. I don't know if this is his last ever appearance, a shame if so as that ended on a low point and I don't think he ever returned to the series later on, so it's one of those dropped plots that could have continued to add the personal touch and the intimate trouble rather than taking the series bigger and more fantastical as they did. It's like when Jonathan mentions taking Martha to a doctor in Metropolis and says he'll probably stay with Clark's Grandfather - they didn't get along and how is he going to explain leaving Clark at the mercy of these thugs?
Martha wasn't in it much, but there was one standout thing she said: about not allowing the knowledge of Clark's secret to be used to intimidate them into silence and doing what they should do, which was a good, moral point to make, though in the end they find a way around Clark getting involved, yet still informing the police about what happened. Ultimately it's the positive qualities that stood out to me on this occasion, where in the past I'd rated the episode quite low. It wasn't even that I had low expectations as I didn't know what to expect from the title. There was the self-sacrifice of Lana recommending Henry needs to talk to his wife and concentrate on her, there was obviously Lionel's contribution to proceedings (I couldn't help thinking of the last time he confronted a broken beam as he does at the Torch: when it was poised to skewer him at the Luthor Mansion during the storm at the end of the first season!), and generally a bright, upbeat tone despite all the soap and misery, and that's what makes the difference: for all that happens, at least things are happy between Clark and Lana, Clark and Lex, Clark and Pete, etc. But I really think Clark should have waited until Lex had finished his phone conversation before he clonked him on the back of the head as you'd think the person he was talking to might be suspicious!
***
Bem
DVD, Star Trek: The Animated Series (Bem)
A promising episode let down by a confused ending, but I'll get to that. The Bem of the title is an outlandish alien who looks like a cross between a Cardassian, a Talaxian and an Orion (if the first couple of races had existed in Trek back then, which they didn't), and is an independent observer from the planet Pandronia, or was it Pandro, I forget. Anyway, he, or they as might be better to say when we find out the nature of him/it, is quite alien and unknown to the Enterprise crew because of being part of a recently contacted race, a handy idea so they can get away with not knowing the race's true nature in the story, but in reality it's hard to believe Starfleet would allow an outsider as a visitor on the ship for any length of time without first vetting the species - they could be allies of the Klingons, or have dangerous attitudes that could get others killed! However this came about, and I do like the idea of guest observers on starships for all its security implications, it was always interesting when done in later Trek (I think of the Benzite, or Riker doing an officer transfer on a Klingon ship, both in 'TNG'), it sets up the pattern of the episode: Bem has his own ideas about testing Kirk and is dishonest from the start.
It was amusing to see the Transporter make a 'mistake' and when the Landing Party beams down (inadvisedly comprised of the first four command-ranked officers going by who takes the Bridge when Kirk's away: Kirk, Spock, Scotty and Sulu), Kirk and Spock materialise over open water while the others appear on solid ground. It's an idea that at first seems fun, then you think the Transporter would surely have programming to prevent such a potentially embarrassing, at the least, deadly, at the worst, eventuality from occurring. Fortunately it was down to Bem's interference with the technology, all done so he can sneak the Captain and First Officer's Phasers and Communicators away and replace them with duds as part of his test. This is where the episode first betrays its wacky intentions: Bem, as Spock later describes, is a 'colony creature' made up of various parts which can come apart to operate independently. If this wasn't a cartoon I'd be complaining it was cartoonish, but it is a cartoon, so you just have to accept its silliness (one reason it remains important not to acknowledge 'TAS' as canonical, other than the bits and pieces worth making so).
Bem deliberately disobeys orders and runs off on this planet of aboriginal nappy-wearing Gorn types with the intention of seeing how Kirk reacts, I suppose, it's not entirely clear exactly what he wants to see, other than how they survive without their technology. The plan was a little bonkers, just as Bem is, or shall I say alien in his thinking (and even in speech - although even that is confusing because if Bem is actually a group of creatures why does he/it still refer to themselves as 'this one,' other than so as not to give away its nature to Kirk and crew?), because it relied on Kirk and Spock being separated and choosing to pursue him on their own. It does happen, for dramatic purposes, but it needn't have. Anyway, once they're all captured it's still not really clear what Bem wants to see from Kirk, is he disappointed the Captain was captured, does he want to observe his interactions with the native race? At least there is a little wry commentary on Kirk and Spock's penchant for being held captive: Kirk actually wonders aloud how they always end up like this, Spock replying, I assume ironically or even a touch sarcastically, that it's fate, because I'm not sure he'd actually believe in such a concept which is why it seemed more likely he's as close to being flippant as a Vulcan would be. Still, we get a great line from him after Kirk considers changing careers to that of librarian (perhaps in reference to his Academy days when he was thought of as a stack of books on legs?), and Spock replies that job would be no less challenging, but a lot less dangerous!
There was a puzzling situation about the hierarchy of the Enterprise - as I mentioned before, the four top officers beam down (a real no-no, I'd have thought), so it's not clear who was in charge, though Uhura's the one they talk to on the Bridge, even though she stays at her post instead of taking the Captain's Chair. Until a little later when she does hover near it and we see M'Ress has taken her comms station, so she does seem to be the boss. It's odd, because Scotty wants to go after the Captain when he follows Bem, but Uhura is adamant that his orders must be obeyed and wants Scotty and Sulu (who appears right from the Briefing Room scene at the start and throughout, but never gets a single line), to beam back. But once Scotty's back aboard he's in charge, we see him in the Captain's Chair, so is he only in command when he's aboard ship? It's an intriguing little set of hierarchy questions and even though it's irrelevant to the story I found it to be one of the more interesting parts of the story. Both Uhura and Scotty, or I should say Nichelle Nichols and James Doohan, get more to do than usual, with Nichols as the voice of the Organian-like non-corporeal guardian of this world who oversees the aboriginal population and ensures no outside harm comes to them, while Doohan as usual performs multiple roles: he's the main guest character, Bem, as well as Arex, and as Scotty talks to himself through both of those characters, which is always entertaining!
Scotty also suffers with light coloured hair during his beam down for Kirk and Spock's rescue - did losing his Captain turn him prematurely grey? Or was it the fact that he couldn't find the Phaser Rifles which we earlier heard him ordering a security team to be equipped with, but when they actually beam down it's just standard Phasers, disappointingly? The message at first seems to be that Starfleet shouldn't be so arrogant to think they can go around the galaxy classifying planets and peoples as much as they like ('this planet is not for your use'), effectively trespassing on other races' homes, and that is a subject that could do with some exploration in Trek - in 'Beyond,' before it came out it seemed as if it would be about the final frontier pushing back and not happy about the Federation being so nosy or spreading their ways, but of course it degenerated into something far less engaging. It's a subject I can't remember being much examined, but then it wouldn't work too well if Starfleet decided to pack it in and stay within their own borders, and anyway, we know what they do is with the best intentions and sometimes even for a planet's own good, though I suppose that's drifting into Prime Directive territory which is where this angle usually goes. I suppose there was supposed to be parallels between Kirk classifying the planet and Bem testing him, but it's not all that solid.
The ending is also a little bit confused (or maybe it was just me), with the idea that Bem becomes guilty and remorseful for getting them into this mess in the first place and decides what I can only assume was meant to be a metaphor for suicide, that he, or they, should 'disassemble' as punishment. Was it that he felt bad for getting Kirk into the mess or was it that he got caught at the end by the reptile people? It was a bit extreme to suggest suicide as a punishment! The God-like Uhura voice says punishment is only necessary where learning cannot occur without it, but I'm not sure that's entirely true, the punishment itself can be a learning experience, and punishments come in all sizes, you don't have to leap to extremes. It could be read as an anti-suicide message, I suppose, but the ending was the weakest part of the episode. Perhaps episode writer David Gerrold (he of the Tribbles), was overreaching himself for what was possible in a children's cartoon? On the whole it's a reasonably entertaining story with a fun alien design, but I don't think it was capable of fully exploring the ideas that Gerrold wanted to and it comes off a bit messy. The best things about it are the technical ideas: the Transporter mistake, the ship hierarchy and a way to boost Communicators by connecting two of them together (though even there, would a powerful entity only respond when Kirk uses a boosted device to call it: 'entity, this is Captain Kirk, please respond' - that was comical).
**
A promising episode let down by a confused ending, but I'll get to that. The Bem of the title is an outlandish alien who looks like a cross between a Cardassian, a Talaxian and an Orion (if the first couple of races had existed in Trek back then, which they didn't), and is an independent observer from the planet Pandronia, or was it Pandro, I forget. Anyway, he, or they as might be better to say when we find out the nature of him/it, is quite alien and unknown to the Enterprise crew because of being part of a recently contacted race, a handy idea so they can get away with not knowing the race's true nature in the story, but in reality it's hard to believe Starfleet would allow an outsider as a visitor on the ship for any length of time without first vetting the species - they could be allies of the Klingons, or have dangerous attitudes that could get others killed! However this came about, and I do like the idea of guest observers on starships for all its security implications, it was always interesting when done in later Trek (I think of the Benzite, or Riker doing an officer transfer on a Klingon ship, both in 'TNG'), it sets up the pattern of the episode: Bem has his own ideas about testing Kirk and is dishonest from the start.
It was amusing to see the Transporter make a 'mistake' and when the Landing Party beams down (inadvisedly comprised of the first four command-ranked officers going by who takes the Bridge when Kirk's away: Kirk, Spock, Scotty and Sulu), Kirk and Spock materialise over open water while the others appear on solid ground. It's an idea that at first seems fun, then you think the Transporter would surely have programming to prevent such a potentially embarrassing, at the least, deadly, at the worst, eventuality from occurring. Fortunately it was down to Bem's interference with the technology, all done so he can sneak the Captain and First Officer's Phasers and Communicators away and replace them with duds as part of his test. This is where the episode first betrays its wacky intentions: Bem, as Spock later describes, is a 'colony creature' made up of various parts which can come apart to operate independently. If this wasn't a cartoon I'd be complaining it was cartoonish, but it is a cartoon, so you just have to accept its silliness (one reason it remains important not to acknowledge 'TAS' as canonical, other than the bits and pieces worth making so).
Bem deliberately disobeys orders and runs off on this planet of aboriginal nappy-wearing Gorn types with the intention of seeing how Kirk reacts, I suppose, it's not entirely clear exactly what he wants to see, other than how they survive without their technology. The plan was a little bonkers, just as Bem is, or shall I say alien in his thinking (and even in speech - although even that is confusing because if Bem is actually a group of creatures why does he/it still refer to themselves as 'this one,' other than so as not to give away its nature to Kirk and crew?), because it relied on Kirk and Spock being separated and choosing to pursue him on their own. It does happen, for dramatic purposes, but it needn't have. Anyway, once they're all captured it's still not really clear what Bem wants to see from Kirk, is he disappointed the Captain was captured, does he want to observe his interactions with the native race? At least there is a little wry commentary on Kirk and Spock's penchant for being held captive: Kirk actually wonders aloud how they always end up like this, Spock replying, I assume ironically or even a touch sarcastically, that it's fate, because I'm not sure he'd actually believe in such a concept which is why it seemed more likely he's as close to being flippant as a Vulcan would be. Still, we get a great line from him after Kirk considers changing careers to that of librarian (perhaps in reference to his Academy days when he was thought of as a stack of books on legs?), and Spock replies that job would be no less challenging, but a lot less dangerous!
There was a puzzling situation about the hierarchy of the Enterprise - as I mentioned before, the four top officers beam down (a real no-no, I'd have thought), so it's not clear who was in charge, though Uhura's the one they talk to on the Bridge, even though she stays at her post instead of taking the Captain's Chair. Until a little later when she does hover near it and we see M'Ress has taken her comms station, so she does seem to be the boss. It's odd, because Scotty wants to go after the Captain when he follows Bem, but Uhura is adamant that his orders must be obeyed and wants Scotty and Sulu (who appears right from the Briefing Room scene at the start and throughout, but never gets a single line), to beam back. But once Scotty's back aboard he's in charge, we see him in the Captain's Chair, so is he only in command when he's aboard ship? It's an intriguing little set of hierarchy questions and even though it's irrelevant to the story I found it to be one of the more interesting parts of the story. Both Uhura and Scotty, or I should say Nichelle Nichols and James Doohan, get more to do than usual, with Nichols as the voice of the Organian-like non-corporeal guardian of this world who oversees the aboriginal population and ensures no outside harm comes to them, while Doohan as usual performs multiple roles: he's the main guest character, Bem, as well as Arex, and as Scotty talks to himself through both of those characters, which is always entertaining!
Scotty also suffers with light coloured hair during his beam down for Kirk and Spock's rescue - did losing his Captain turn him prematurely grey? Or was it the fact that he couldn't find the Phaser Rifles which we earlier heard him ordering a security team to be equipped with, but when they actually beam down it's just standard Phasers, disappointingly? The message at first seems to be that Starfleet shouldn't be so arrogant to think they can go around the galaxy classifying planets and peoples as much as they like ('this planet is not for your use'), effectively trespassing on other races' homes, and that is a subject that could do with some exploration in Trek - in 'Beyond,' before it came out it seemed as if it would be about the final frontier pushing back and not happy about the Federation being so nosy or spreading their ways, but of course it degenerated into something far less engaging. It's a subject I can't remember being much examined, but then it wouldn't work too well if Starfleet decided to pack it in and stay within their own borders, and anyway, we know what they do is with the best intentions and sometimes even for a planet's own good, though I suppose that's drifting into Prime Directive territory which is where this angle usually goes. I suppose there was supposed to be parallels between Kirk classifying the planet and Bem testing him, but it's not all that solid.
The ending is also a little bit confused (or maybe it was just me), with the idea that Bem becomes guilty and remorseful for getting them into this mess in the first place and decides what I can only assume was meant to be a metaphor for suicide, that he, or they, should 'disassemble' as punishment. Was it that he felt bad for getting Kirk into the mess or was it that he got caught at the end by the reptile people? It was a bit extreme to suggest suicide as a punishment! The God-like Uhura voice says punishment is only necessary where learning cannot occur without it, but I'm not sure that's entirely true, the punishment itself can be a learning experience, and punishments come in all sizes, you don't have to leap to extremes. It could be read as an anti-suicide message, I suppose, but the ending was the weakest part of the episode. Perhaps episode writer David Gerrold (he of the Tribbles), was overreaching himself for what was possible in a children's cartoon? On the whole it's a reasonably entertaining story with a fun alien design, but I don't think it was capable of fully exploring the ideas that Gerrold wanted to and it comes off a bit messy. The best things about it are the technical ideas: the Transporter mistake, the ship hierarchy and a way to boost Communicators by connecting two of them together (though even there, would a powerful entity only respond when Kirk uses a boosted device to call it: 'entity, this is Captain Kirk, please respond' - that was comical).
**
Tuesday, 11 January 2022
Precipice (2)
DVD, Smallville S2 (Precipice) (2)
I didn't remember much about this one other than the axe in the train carriage, but I did remember I liked it. A lot. And I still do, it's one of the highlights of the season, a chance to see a different side to several of the characters, the introduction of the prickly Sheriff Adams who sets the cat amongst the pigeons with her topsy-turvy view of the town, and some resolution on the ongoing storyline of Lex and Dr. Bryce. One thing that wasn't a factor when I last watched it, but has now become a big point of interest was the guest star: Anson Mount, who'd go on to become TV's Captain Pike in 'Star Trek: Discovery' (and soon to get his own spinoff), about fifteen years later. I knew there was a reason I never fully warmed to his version of the classic character - all these years I'd seen him in the role of Helen Bryce's ex-med school colleague with creepily amorous intent! It wasn't completely out of the blue, I'd heard in a podcast Mount was in a Season 2 episode, but it was still entertaining to see him. What I really loved about the episode, however, was the issue of injustice versus the law, and if I was going to call this episode anything else, it would have been dubbed 'Injustice.' 'Precipice' works well, as that's Lex' position at the end of the episode where he almost gives in to his feelings of vengeance, but it doesn't apply quite as much to anyone else, though I suppose it could be argued that the other two plots were on a cliff edge to some degree as well.
Lana's close call with the odious Andy who causes so much stress for her and Clark, and the Kent family who could be sued for what he did to beat up the guy and his friends. No, I take it back, 'Precipice' is a good all-round title, as Clark was just as much on the edge as Lex was, giving in to his ability to teach these punks a lesson they deserved to learn. But the episode comes down heavily against vigilantism and makes you think about all the times Clark's been in that position (a hero complex, says the Sheriff), and has generally managed to hold back and do no more than was necessary to save or protect victims. This time it was Lana at stake and he felt especially protective, but you can see the gleam in his eye when he confronts the thugs in the back alley, that he feels he has right on his side and so he should do what he feels he can get away with. But life isn't as simple as that, and if nothing else it highlights the litigious society we've allowed to strangle the modern world, where perhaps in the past a hard lesson for offenders would have been accepted. But it's a murky issue and not easily unravelled. We love to see the superheroes like Batman dealing out justice, especially when it's for helpless victims, but at the same time the rights and wrongs aren't always as clear cut.
In a way it was a case of unjust law enforcement, but then Adams is coming to a tight community as an outsider who doesn't know the people and so could be impartial when Sheriff Ethan was a bit more liable to leniency, but even he, hat in hand and in an embarrassed way, would hold up his badge of office and not play favourites, it's just that Adams is so cantankerous and caustic in comparison, a sharp, hard older woman who's probably seen it all. Clark gets on the wrong side of her, but it's difficult to see a good side to get on! I couldn't help thinking that Lana would be able to bring charges against Andy, especially with Clark as a witness. Sure, he had the backups to swear against it, but the evidence was there: the smashed shelving and Lana's bruises, as well as her and Clark's good name in the community, whereas you feel pretty sure Andy and his mates would have been in trouble with the law at some point, probably many times. I suppose they didn't have as much CCTV in those days, either. And as for suing the Kents, surely some kind of official medical diagnosis would have been essential before such a suit could be brought to court, and Andy's story would have fallen through as soon as he was checked independently, wouldn't it? I felt the same thing about mad Paul - they could have just checked his motel room, found the broken mirror with his blood on it and understood he'd caused his own injury, but the progress of law can be slow, too slow to keep up with unlawfulness, another lesson perhaps that shifts the balance in favour of taking it into your own hands. In fact there are points on both sides so it's not a simple case.
I really liked seeing Lana take back some of the control she has over herself and her surroundings by learning some karate. I don't remember it being a continuing story, but it makes sense after all the times she's been in danger from various troublemakers, and it was important to stress that it's not about becoming a crime-buster or seeking out trouble, merely a form of defence when there was no other way out, and she performed admirably - it was fun that in her own way she saves Clark for once. Perhaps it was going too far to outright say that in dialogue, but it was still a pleasant turnaround. Clark is punished for his rashness in dealing with the bullies and it's a reminder that you need to be as wise as a serpent when dealing with evil people because they'll always find a way to hurt you, malevolent as they are and comfortable to lie and cheat to get their way. It was tough for Clark because the litter-picking was one chore he couldn't use his abilities to speed up as it was in front of the whole town. On the other hand, if he'd thought it through maybe he should have gone out after dark, whipped round the town picking up all the litter, then when he actually came to do it officially in the daytime there'd be little or nothing left… Too devious for him? There was a slight sign of the traces of Evil Clark of the Red Kryptonite in the threatening behaviour he pulled on the bullies - it's always been a question of what he can get away with and how close he is to doing someone serious damage, which is why he can't do sports, and this was like the next level up from that.
As he grows and becomes a man it's the kind of issue he needed to be clear on, not to give in to even just feelings that would endanger those who deserve it, but to keep a level head at all times. At the same time, like the Dark Side of the Force, it's beguiling and seductive to give in to such impulses even if at first they're for the sake of good, and that's the same position Lex is put into. Now that I think about it, and Lionel is pointedly absent again, could Paul's arrival on the scene have been a deliberate ploy by his Father to bring Lex closer to Helen and make him realise how much he cares for her? I'd never considered that before, but it's plausible for Lionel to use an uncontrolled unfortunate to carry his plans forward. It's gratifying to see Lex continue to choose right - sure, I could imagine him instructing his man to beat up Paul, and that would likely have been the plan eventually, but even while this man takes every opportunity to kill him, he just can't pull the trigger, and it was all for the affections of Helen, whom he knew couldn't accept him if he'd killed her ex-friend, no matter how insane he was, which would only make him fall harder when the truth came out in Season 3, a cruel and disturbing turn of events that helped to stop Lex being that fascinating character walking the tightrope between his dual natures which made him so compelling in the first two seasons.
And he really is fascinating, pleasing the way he threatens Paul (that's not a threat, this is a threat!), and thrills the way he looks like he'll do anything and stands up to the Sheriff when all she seems to be doing is preserving the rights of the wrongdoers in the town, stalking away from her, coat tails flapping. And it was a well directed episode, about the only negative I could say about it is the continued lack of Pete especially, and Chloe, who barely register. I feel in the past they'd have found ways to involve them, perhaps Chloe would've been the one to find out Andy was faking his injury, and Pete would have accompanied Clark on his community service (okay, maybe just for a short while, he probably wouldn't want some girl thinking he was doing time!), but the point is they'd have been included. Even the parents could have done with more, but Jonathan gets to show a different side, the same as Clark, Lana and Lex, when he orders Clark to sit down, clearly master in his own house when the Sheriff comes a-calling. Nice callback to the 'destiny' of Clark to rule these flawed humans, the attitude he immediately sinks to in his disgust at the injustice that's been dealt him. It's good to see people put through an ordeal if they have a chance to learn from it, and I felt all three of the main characters did that, it was a valuable set of life lessons, something that comes more easily in episodic structure - even though there are serial stories travelling along through the season, most episodes are largely self-contained and have the chance to do something, instead of merely moving a plot along.
****
I didn't remember much about this one other than the axe in the train carriage, but I did remember I liked it. A lot. And I still do, it's one of the highlights of the season, a chance to see a different side to several of the characters, the introduction of the prickly Sheriff Adams who sets the cat amongst the pigeons with her topsy-turvy view of the town, and some resolution on the ongoing storyline of Lex and Dr. Bryce. One thing that wasn't a factor when I last watched it, but has now become a big point of interest was the guest star: Anson Mount, who'd go on to become TV's Captain Pike in 'Star Trek: Discovery' (and soon to get his own spinoff), about fifteen years later. I knew there was a reason I never fully warmed to his version of the classic character - all these years I'd seen him in the role of Helen Bryce's ex-med school colleague with creepily amorous intent! It wasn't completely out of the blue, I'd heard in a podcast Mount was in a Season 2 episode, but it was still entertaining to see him. What I really loved about the episode, however, was the issue of injustice versus the law, and if I was going to call this episode anything else, it would have been dubbed 'Injustice.' 'Precipice' works well, as that's Lex' position at the end of the episode where he almost gives in to his feelings of vengeance, but it doesn't apply quite as much to anyone else, though I suppose it could be argued that the other two plots were on a cliff edge to some degree as well.
Lana's close call with the odious Andy who causes so much stress for her and Clark, and the Kent family who could be sued for what he did to beat up the guy and his friends. No, I take it back, 'Precipice' is a good all-round title, as Clark was just as much on the edge as Lex was, giving in to his ability to teach these punks a lesson they deserved to learn. But the episode comes down heavily against vigilantism and makes you think about all the times Clark's been in that position (a hero complex, says the Sheriff), and has generally managed to hold back and do no more than was necessary to save or protect victims. This time it was Lana at stake and he felt especially protective, but you can see the gleam in his eye when he confronts the thugs in the back alley, that he feels he has right on his side and so he should do what he feels he can get away with. But life isn't as simple as that, and if nothing else it highlights the litigious society we've allowed to strangle the modern world, where perhaps in the past a hard lesson for offenders would have been accepted. But it's a murky issue and not easily unravelled. We love to see the superheroes like Batman dealing out justice, especially when it's for helpless victims, but at the same time the rights and wrongs aren't always as clear cut.
In a way it was a case of unjust law enforcement, but then Adams is coming to a tight community as an outsider who doesn't know the people and so could be impartial when Sheriff Ethan was a bit more liable to leniency, but even he, hat in hand and in an embarrassed way, would hold up his badge of office and not play favourites, it's just that Adams is so cantankerous and caustic in comparison, a sharp, hard older woman who's probably seen it all. Clark gets on the wrong side of her, but it's difficult to see a good side to get on! I couldn't help thinking that Lana would be able to bring charges against Andy, especially with Clark as a witness. Sure, he had the backups to swear against it, but the evidence was there: the smashed shelving and Lana's bruises, as well as her and Clark's good name in the community, whereas you feel pretty sure Andy and his mates would have been in trouble with the law at some point, probably many times. I suppose they didn't have as much CCTV in those days, either. And as for suing the Kents, surely some kind of official medical diagnosis would have been essential before such a suit could be brought to court, and Andy's story would have fallen through as soon as he was checked independently, wouldn't it? I felt the same thing about mad Paul - they could have just checked his motel room, found the broken mirror with his blood on it and understood he'd caused his own injury, but the progress of law can be slow, too slow to keep up with unlawfulness, another lesson perhaps that shifts the balance in favour of taking it into your own hands. In fact there are points on both sides so it's not a simple case.
I really liked seeing Lana take back some of the control she has over herself and her surroundings by learning some karate. I don't remember it being a continuing story, but it makes sense after all the times she's been in danger from various troublemakers, and it was important to stress that it's not about becoming a crime-buster or seeking out trouble, merely a form of defence when there was no other way out, and she performed admirably - it was fun that in her own way she saves Clark for once. Perhaps it was going too far to outright say that in dialogue, but it was still a pleasant turnaround. Clark is punished for his rashness in dealing with the bullies and it's a reminder that you need to be as wise as a serpent when dealing with evil people because they'll always find a way to hurt you, malevolent as they are and comfortable to lie and cheat to get their way. It was tough for Clark because the litter-picking was one chore he couldn't use his abilities to speed up as it was in front of the whole town. On the other hand, if he'd thought it through maybe he should have gone out after dark, whipped round the town picking up all the litter, then when he actually came to do it officially in the daytime there'd be little or nothing left… Too devious for him? There was a slight sign of the traces of Evil Clark of the Red Kryptonite in the threatening behaviour he pulled on the bullies - it's always been a question of what he can get away with and how close he is to doing someone serious damage, which is why he can't do sports, and this was like the next level up from that.
As he grows and becomes a man it's the kind of issue he needed to be clear on, not to give in to even just feelings that would endanger those who deserve it, but to keep a level head at all times. At the same time, like the Dark Side of the Force, it's beguiling and seductive to give in to such impulses even if at first they're for the sake of good, and that's the same position Lex is put into. Now that I think about it, and Lionel is pointedly absent again, could Paul's arrival on the scene have been a deliberate ploy by his Father to bring Lex closer to Helen and make him realise how much he cares for her? I'd never considered that before, but it's plausible for Lionel to use an uncontrolled unfortunate to carry his plans forward. It's gratifying to see Lex continue to choose right - sure, I could imagine him instructing his man to beat up Paul, and that would likely have been the plan eventually, but even while this man takes every opportunity to kill him, he just can't pull the trigger, and it was all for the affections of Helen, whom he knew couldn't accept him if he'd killed her ex-friend, no matter how insane he was, which would only make him fall harder when the truth came out in Season 3, a cruel and disturbing turn of events that helped to stop Lex being that fascinating character walking the tightrope between his dual natures which made him so compelling in the first two seasons.
And he really is fascinating, pleasing the way he threatens Paul (that's not a threat, this is a threat!), and thrills the way he looks like he'll do anything and stands up to the Sheriff when all she seems to be doing is preserving the rights of the wrongdoers in the town, stalking away from her, coat tails flapping. And it was a well directed episode, about the only negative I could say about it is the continued lack of Pete especially, and Chloe, who barely register. I feel in the past they'd have found ways to involve them, perhaps Chloe would've been the one to find out Andy was faking his injury, and Pete would have accompanied Clark on his community service (okay, maybe just for a short while, he probably wouldn't want some girl thinking he was doing time!), but the point is they'd have been included. Even the parents could have done with more, but Jonathan gets to show a different side, the same as Clark, Lana and Lex, when he orders Clark to sit down, clearly master in his own house when the Sheriff comes a-calling. Nice callback to the 'destiny' of Clark to rule these flawed humans, the attitude he immediately sinks to in his disgust at the injustice that's been dealt him. It's good to see people put through an ordeal if they have a chance to learn from it, and I felt all three of the main characters did that, it was a valuable set of life lessons, something that comes more easily in episodic structure - even though there are serial stories travelling along through the season, most episodes are largely self-contained and have the chance to do something, instead of merely moving a plot along.
****
Retrogaming Review of The Year 2021
Retrogaming Review of The Year 2021
In the second Year of The Virus I was resolved to have a little more fun and make time for games when in other years I might have been working on things, so certain titles became regular entries into my Wii's drive - and that was the whole idea of the Wii, I believe, to get gamers playing little and often, picking things up and putting them down, though I also got the chance to delve into deeper games, too. A shame the Amiga didn't play a prominent part as I hoped it would, but at least I kept the gaming going overall and never lost the enjoyment with generally good choices.
Awards:
Surprise of The Year: WSC Real '08
Disappointment of The Year: Animal Crossing
[Ratings reflect total, historical experience, not just the enjoyment level I got out of them this time.]
January: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2005, GameCube) - Took a while to get into, and could be frustrating getting used to controlling four Links, but eventually I came to enjoy it. The music was sometimes repeated too much for different levels, making it seem a little rushed or lazy, but in spite of any flaws it still leaves you slightly moved by the end where you fly around Hyrule revisiting the different places you battled through, thanks to the owl or the fairies that we follow during the credits. Even then, the series had become far too derivative of itself, but it's hard to criticise traditionalism in a game that very much broke the mould. With four players I expect it would have been more fun. ***
January - December: WSC Real 08 (2008, Wii) - I'd played this before, but hadn't got very far, not even winning a single match against the computer. Until this year when I picked up the gauntlet and chose to get into it - I did, more than I could've ever imagined! It became easily my most played game of the year, an involving, engaging revelation that was about as close to a real match as I can imagine, the Wiimote coming into its own as an intuitive and natural cue that worked like no gimmicky operation in other games. I battled up to 2nd in the world (still to overcome Ronnie O'Sullivan's lead and take the top spot so I'll be back on it this year!). It's not quite five-star material, there were some minor annoyances, such as the audience looking like civilians from 'Body Harvest' (the characters that ran around with about three frames of animation and no texture), and the players all seemed to be on an extreme diet! The match length keeps resetting to 25% at the start of each season, and I prefer the full-length version; there's no score on screen when the opposition's at table (unless you pause and go into stats in the options screen), no ability to see a ball from any angle, it's always from the cue ball and you need to be able to look around the table freely; and at first I found the positional aids sometimes disappeared for no apparent reason until I realised it was all to do with whether you were putting enough power in the meter. The positional aids themselves were essential and aren't cheating, they're actually part of the game, encouraging improvement to your stats so you can trade points for a better quality of aids, in an RPG style. There's great immersion, too, where you really get into matches (fortunate that you don't have to complete all frames in one sitting), the commentary from the brilliant John Virgo, with support from Steve Davis and John Parrott, helping that end of things immensely - it can be jarring and misplaced sometimes, but they do converse on occasion and though repetitive it adds to the realism. Realism doesn't go too far, either, with no kicks or miscues like the real game, so it's not complete simulation. It may be inaccessible until you dedicate to it, but it rewards patience. Disappointingly, it doesn't keep records of your career, so once a season's done it's gone, no record of how much money you earned (no way to spend it either), the head-to-heads only appear for players when you play them, you can't go over the details of an event to track your progress; who played; frames won; century breaks; etc, so room for improvement. It would also have been nice to be able to see what happened on replay before you commit to taking a shot or forcing a continue on your opponent, but it's a full, deep game that a year of play hasn't exhausted, and that's without even going into the Pool side of things (and Billiards), two-player, and incentives, and comes as close as I can imagine to naturally reaching a level where you can compete with the top players, at least virtually. ****
January - November: Wii Sports (2006, Wii) - Like the snooker, I wanted something that I could do regularly, and this was specifically used for supplementary exercise, the boxing especially requiring effort. Most of the games had their merits and it continues to be a good source of regular, almost weekly, attempts to better high scores in certain disciplines while also getting the exercise. ***
January - November: UFO: Enemy Unknown (1993, Amiga 1200) - With 2022 to mark twenty years of continuous play, 2021 wasn't anything special, other than keeping the tradition alive, and in a year when I failed to get back into Amiga games as I'd planned, this was my only example of that great machine. One day I'll wrap up this file… *****
May - July: Body Harvest (1998, N64) - I'd looked forward to revisiting this, and associated as it had been with the summer of 2001, returning to it almost exactly twenty years later was a real joy and probably the best gaming experience I had all year, tied in with watching the Euros and reading the 'N64 Anthology,' all three representing the summer for me. There aren't many games left that I haven't returned to, to wring a full measure of nostalgia from it on the N64, but this was one rare example that I'd never replayed and it didn't disappoint. The quality of the front end and graphics of a game have never been of highest importance in my estimation, and though this game looked a bit shabby (even when it came out!), its freedom and storytelling was far more telling, controlling so many varied vehicles from motorbikes to tanks, boats to chinooks, it was well worth the time I spent with it. Maybe it'll be back in the slot for the year 2041…? ****
August - September: Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City (2008, Wii) - The one that didn't impress, and I'd had a similar experience with 'Harvest Moon' on the GameCube, the last full-priced game I ever bought I think, I still went into this hoping it would be the typical wondrous Nintendo extravaganza. It was the first in the series I'd played, never having been able to find the 'Cube version for a reasonable price, and I paid the most I had for any game this year, but it was a real disappointment. It was a little more interactive than 'Harvest Moon,' I'll give it that, but not much more involving, so after trying for a while to get some kind of purpose to it, it soon degenerated into a hunt for bugs that could be sold to get money… for no good reason. It struck me as quite a girly game, something that was less about doing and more about living within, gossiping with the neighbours, trying on different clothes, arranging furniture, going shopping… All things that don't appeal, and with no real progress or delights I finally found myself heading off for something more worth my time. **
October - December: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007, Wii) - It took a little time to get into, and the controls were finicky and far from the precision needed to have confidence in this type of game, but I've got over irritating controls before (such as in 'Hitman 2'), and though it could still be uncomfortable after prolonged play I was glad to be able to experience the next title in the series after I'd enjoyed the first two on 'Cube - it made me want to go back to the beginning and I will definitely return to 'Metroid Prime' in the next year or so. ****
December: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006, GameCube) - I never felt this was one of the best in its series, it felt too much like a reaction to 'Wind Waker,' a desperate attempt to return to what made the N64 classics work. It looked good, but also like a slightly higher-res 'Ocarina of Time,' with a larger game world, but the gameplay was very familiar, perhaps too much so. There was too much busywork to artificially inflate the playing time (88 hours on my original run back in 2006-2007!). It's such a tough line to walk in crafting a new gaming experience within the confines of a much-loved existing franchise and few have succeeded. It is marginally better than its predecessor, partly because of the return to 'realistic' style, but also for horse-riding being more fun than sailing across empty oceans. I went in without high expectations since I remembered being disappointed that it didn't quite live up to its billing as the last big game of the 'Cube era (much like the 'Cube itself ended up as slightly underwhelming compared to the experiences I'd had on the N64, the king of consoles), and I can't say I've enjoyed it more, but have taken it for what it was: a continuation of the 'Ocarina' style that brought the series into 3D, and a fairly enjoyable return to puzzles and exploration. ***
December: Mario Kart Wii (2008, Wii) - I'd been given it a year or so ago and had never got the interest up to taking it out of the plastic wrapping, but multiplayer at Christmas finally encouraged me to have a go after my original experience (back in 2008 when my cousin brought it round and thrashed me every time since I couldn't get the hang of the imprecise physical steering), had left me unenthused. But finally giving in and using the 'Cube Controller made it typically great fun, and as well as multiplayer I worked to unlock the other tracks and options so spent plenty of time with this - one thing you notice, apart from the fact that there's a lot more to do than the average Mario Kart instalment, is its love of its own heritage. I could point out the cynical direction of that at a time when the Wii's Virtual Console was encouraging players to buy old versions of games like this, but it was a good marketing strategy. I wonder if subsequent iterations have continued that trend as I did feel as if there weren't enough really strong new tracks, but the leafy one stuck out and it was lovely to return to some older ones, though my favourites like Koopa Troopa Beach and Sherbert Land were omitted. A game I'll likely dip back into this year to finish unlocking everything, though I'll never get used to Wiimote handling and will always stick to classic 'Cube control! ****
Honourable mentions: In July I played 'ExciteBike 64' (***), which was quite a short experience before I'd won all the championships. Good physics, and some great extras, but I didn't warm to the single-player and didn't have the impetus to win first place on every track (***), whereas I really got into some multiplayer gaming over Christmas, with 'WSC Real' (****), 'Mario Kart Wii' (****), 'Mario Kart: Double Dash!!' (*****), 'Burnout 2' (*****), 'Wii Play' (***), 'Shaun White Snowboarding' (**), and 'Colin McRae's Dirt 2' (**), all featuring and most working well (though the last game not allowing 'Cube Controller was a real loss).
Next Year - I'd really wanted to get back into the Amiga by bringing the 1500 down from the loft, but it never happened, and while I've done most of the big Wii games now and revisited some 'Cube (fulfilling my goals of 'Metroid' and 'Zelda'), I'm not finished yet, so in 2022 I'd like to:
- Get the Amiga 1500 down, specifically for 'Flashback,' my favourite 2D platformer ever
- DOSBox didn't get a look in and I do have titles I want to try ('Command & Conquer;' 'Mega-lo-mania;' 'Space Hulk')
- A dark game for Winter on the 'Cube, either 'Splinter Cell' or 'The Lord of The Rings: The Third Age,' but there's also 'Lego Star Wars,' 'Starsky & Hutch,' and of course 'Metroid Prime'
- N64: 'Top Gear Overdrive' for racing, 'Goldeneye 007' and possibly 'TWINE' in preparation for 2023 and the return to 'Perfect Dark'
- To continue my Christmas 'Zelda' tradition with the Wii's entry, 'Skyward Sword'
- Maybe 'Age of Empires 3: The War Chiefs' as it's been a while?
Happy New Year!
In the second Year of The Virus I was resolved to have a little more fun and make time for games when in other years I might have been working on things, so certain titles became regular entries into my Wii's drive - and that was the whole idea of the Wii, I believe, to get gamers playing little and often, picking things up and putting them down, though I also got the chance to delve into deeper games, too. A shame the Amiga didn't play a prominent part as I hoped it would, but at least I kept the gaming going overall and never lost the enjoyment with generally good choices.
Awards:
Surprise of The Year: WSC Real '08
Disappointment of The Year: Animal Crossing
[Ratings reflect total, historical experience, not just the enjoyment level I got out of them this time.]
January: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2005, GameCube) - Took a while to get into, and could be frustrating getting used to controlling four Links, but eventually I came to enjoy it. The music was sometimes repeated too much for different levels, making it seem a little rushed or lazy, but in spite of any flaws it still leaves you slightly moved by the end where you fly around Hyrule revisiting the different places you battled through, thanks to the owl or the fairies that we follow during the credits. Even then, the series had become far too derivative of itself, but it's hard to criticise traditionalism in a game that very much broke the mould. With four players I expect it would have been more fun. ***
January - December: WSC Real 08 (2008, Wii) - I'd played this before, but hadn't got very far, not even winning a single match against the computer. Until this year when I picked up the gauntlet and chose to get into it - I did, more than I could've ever imagined! It became easily my most played game of the year, an involving, engaging revelation that was about as close to a real match as I can imagine, the Wiimote coming into its own as an intuitive and natural cue that worked like no gimmicky operation in other games. I battled up to 2nd in the world (still to overcome Ronnie O'Sullivan's lead and take the top spot so I'll be back on it this year!). It's not quite five-star material, there were some minor annoyances, such as the audience looking like civilians from 'Body Harvest' (the characters that ran around with about three frames of animation and no texture), and the players all seemed to be on an extreme diet! The match length keeps resetting to 25% at the start of each season, and I prefer the full-length version; there's no score on screen when the opposition's at table (unless you pause and go into stats in the options screen), no ability to see a ball from any angle, it's always from the cue ball and you need to be able to look around the table freely; and at first I found the positional aids sometimes disappeared for no apparent reason until I realised it was all to do with whether you were putting enough power in the meter. The positional aids themselves were essential and aren't cheating, they're actually part of the game, encouraging improvement to your stats so you can trade points for a better quality of aids, in an RPG style. There's great immersion, too, where you really get into matches (fortunate that you don't have to complete all frames in one sitting), the commentary from the brilliant John Virgo, with support from Steve Davis and John Parrott, helping that end of things immensely - it can be jarring and misplaced sometimes, but they do converse on occasion and though repetitive it adds to the realism. Realism doesn't go too far, either, with no kicks or miscues like the real game, so it's not complete simulation. It may be inaccessible until you dedicate to it, but it rewards patience. Disappointingly, it doesn't keep records of your career, so once a season's done it's gone, no record of how much money you earned (no way to spend it either), the head-to-heads only appear for players when you play them, you can't go over the details of an event to track your progress; who played; frames won; century breaks; etc, so room for improvement. It would also have been nice to be able to see what happened on replay before you commit to taking a shot or forcing a continue on your opponent, but it's a full, deep game that a year of play hasn't exhausted, and that's without even going into the Pool side of things (and Billiards), two-player, and incentives, and comes as close as I can imagine to naturally reaching a level where you can compete with the top players, at least virtually. ****
January - November: Wii Sports (2006, Wii) - Like the snooker, I wanted something that I could do regularly, and this was specifically used for supplementary exercise, the boxing especially requiring effort. Most of the games had their merits and it continues to be a good source of regular, almost weekly, attempts to better high scores in certain disciplines while also getting the exercise. ***
January - November: UFO: Enemy Unknown (1993, Amiga 1200) - With 2022 to mark twenty years of continuous play, 2021 wasn't anything special, other than keeping the tradition alive, and in a year when I failed to get back into Amiga games as I'd planned, this was my only example of that great machine. One day I'll wrap up this file… *****
May - July: Body Harvest (1998, N64) - I'd looked forward to revisiting this, and associated as it had been with the summer of 2001, returning to it almost exactly twenty years later was a real joy and probably the best gaming experience I had all year, tied in with watching the Euros and reading the 'N64 Anthology,' all three representing the summer for me. There aren't many games left that I haven't returned to, to wring a full measure of nostalgia from it on the N64, but this was one rare example that I'd never replayed and it didn't disappoint. The quality of the front end and graphics of a game have never been of highest importance in my estimation, and though this game looked a bit shabby (even when it came out!), its freedom and storytelling was far more telling, controlling so many varied vehicles from motorbikes to tanks, boats to chinooks, it was well worth the time I spent with it. Maybe it'll be back in the slot for the year 2041…? ****
August - September: Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City (2008, Wii) - The one that didn't impress, and I'd had a similar experience with 'Harvest Moon' on the GameCube, the last full-priced game I ever bought I think, I still went into this hoping it would be the typical wondrous Nintendo extravaganza. It was the first in the series I'd played, never having been able to find the 'Cube version for a reasonable price, and I paid the most I had for any game this year, but it was a real disappointment. It was a little more interactive than 'Harvest Moon,' I'll give it that, but not much more involving, so after trying for a while to get some kind of purpose to it, it soon degenerated into a hunt for bugs that could be sold to get money… for no good reason. It struck me as quite a girly game, something that was less about doing and more about living within, gossiping with the neighbours, trying on different clothes, arranging furniture, going shopping… All things that don't appeal, and with no real progress or delights I finally found myself heading off for something more worth my time. **
October - December: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007, Wii) - It took a little time to get into, and the controls were finicky and far from the precision needed to have confidence in this type of game, but I've got over irritating controls before (such as in 'Hitman 2'), and though it could still be uncomfortable after prolonged play I was glad to be able to experience the next title in the series after I'd enjoyed the first two on 'Cube - it made me want to go back to the beginning and I will definitely return to 'Metroid Prime' in the next year or so. ****
December: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006, GameCube) - I never felt this was one of the best in its series, it felt too much like a reaction to 'Wind Waker,' a desperate attempt to return to what made the N64 classics work. It looked good, but also like a slightly higher-res 'Ocarina of Time,' with a larger game world, but the gameplay was very familiar, perhaps too much so. There was too much busywork to artificially inflate the playing time (88 hours on my original run back in 2006-2007!). It's such a tough line to walk in crafting a new gaming experience within the confines of a much-loved existing franchise and few have succeeded. It is marginally better than its predecessor, partly because of the return to 'realistic' style, but also for horse-riding being more fun than sailing across empty oceans. I went in without high expectations since I remembered being disappointed that it didn't quite live up to its billing as the last big game of the 'Cube era (much like the 'Cube itself ended up as slightly underwhelming compared to the experiences I'd had on the N64, the king of consoles), and I can't say I've enjoyed it more, but have taken it for what it was: a continuation of the 'Ocarina' style that brought the series into 3D, and a fairly enjoyable return to puzzles and exploration. ***
December: Mario Kart Wii (2008, Wii) - I'd been given it a year or so ago and had never got the interest up to taking it out of the plastic wrapping, but multiplayer at Christmas finally encouraged me to have a go after my original experience (back in 2008 when my cousin brought it round and thrashed me every time since I couldn't get the hang of the imprecise physical steering), had left me unenthused. But finally giving in and using the 'Cube Controller made it typically great fun, and as well as multiplayer I worked to unlock the other tracks and options so spent plenty of time with this - one thing you notice, apart from the fact that there's a lot more to do than the average Mario Kart instalment, is its love of its own heritage. I could point out the cynical direction of that at a time when the Wii's Virtual Console was encouraging players to buy old versions of games like this, but it was a good marketing strategy. I wonder if subsequent iterations have continued that trend as I did feel as if there weren't enough really strong new tracks, but the leafy one stuck out and it was lovely to return to some older ones, though my favourites like Koopa Troopa Beach and Sherbert Land were omitted. A game I'll likely dip back into this year to finish unlocking everything, though I'll never get used to Wiimote handling and will always stick to classic 'Cube control! ****
Honourable mentions: In July I played 'ExciteBike 64' (***), which was quite a short experience before I'd won all the championships. Good physics, and some great extras, but I didn't warm to the single-player and didn't have the impetus to win first place on every track (***), whereas I really got into some multiplayer gaming over Christmas, with 'WSC Real' (****), 'Mario Kart Wii' (****), 'Mario Kart: Double Dash!!' (*****), 'Burnout 2' (*****), 'Wii Play' (***), 'Shaun White Snowboarding' (**), and 'Colin McRae's Dirt 2' (**), all featuring and most working well (though the last game not allowing 'Cube Controller was a real loss).
Next Year - I'd really wanted to get back into the Amiga by bringing the 1500 down from the loft, but it never happened, and while I've done most of the big Wii games now and revisited some 'Cube (fulfilling my goals of 'Metroid' and 'Zelda'), I'm not finished yet, so in 2022 I'd like to:
- Get the Amiga 1500 down, specifically for 'Flashback,' my favourite 2D platformer ever
- DOSBox didn't get a look in and I do have titles I want to try ('Command & Conquer;' 'Mega-lo-mania;' 'Space Hulk')
- A dark game for Winter on the 'Cube, either 'Splinter Cell' or 'The Lord of The Rings: The Third Age,' but there's also 'Lego Star Wars,' 'Starsky & Hutch,' and of course 'Metroid Prime'
- N64: 'Top Gear Overdrive' for racing, 'Goldeneye 007' and possibly 'TWINE' in preparation for 2023 and the return to 'Perfect Dark'
- To continue my Christmas 'Zelda' tradition with the Wii's entry, 'Skyward Sword'
- Maybe 'Age of Empires 3: The War Chiefs' as it's been a while?
Happy New Year!
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