Scare

DVD, Smallville S4 (Scare)

Tell her! Tell her! Tell her! That's what my head was shouting in the last scene. It's been over two years since Clark's shared his secret with someone, and that didn't work out. In fact it led to the breaking of a long friendship with Pete, and his leaving Smallville. Everything at the end of this story pushes us into wanting Clark to tell Chloe, and actually it's come out of the blue. It isn't like he's been thinking hard about telling her, on the contrary, it's Lana he wants to tell. But that little sequence when she brings out the whereabouts, or more aptly, the condition of her Mum, that she becomes more honest and open than we've seen her before, makes it seem like the perfect time.

She admits she knows some big secret is a burden to Clark, which hasn't been addressed since the time she was investigating him, causing a rift for a while. Thankfully that was patched up, much better than the one with Lana, but that's probably because she's fonder of Clark than Lana now is, and can forgive him anything as long as he remains on friendly terms. She couldn't bear not seeing the guy at all, whereas Lana has moved on, grown up quite a lot, and thought she'd got what she wanted. Only Jason has suddenly gone weird, and it has to be something to do with his Mum, and some dark secret that would cause him to leave.

The horror aspect of the series has always been there, from the freaks-of-the-week to town-wide disaster, though the latter has been rare. It's been a while since the Smallville Medical Centre has been inundated with townsfolk, and seeing it like that brought back memories of the twisters. People's greatest fears are always compelling, and I only wish we could have seen the Kent's and Lionel's. It's easy to guess that their fear would be losing Clark or each other, but Lionel Luthor's? He's such a shadowy character, even now, that I'm not sure a fear could be pinned down pat, unless it was failure of everything he instigated, or defeat by adversaries, or Lex bringing him down - but that fear has already come true. Until he's let out here!

We knew he'd be getting out at some point - if he could recover his sight from blindness, getting out of prison's a comparatively easy achievement! But who is the mystery benefactor, this someone who mut be more powerful than him? It wouldn't be Lex, he put him there, rightfully in the first place. It wouldn't be the villains he's come up against over the years, so it's either the lady in charge of finding the stones, or someone we don't know yet.

Clark's almost-sacrifice, where he goes to give himself up as a guinea-pig for Lex' testing was one of his most heroic moments, and the use of heat vision to speed up the antidote was inspired, and a good effect. There were a lot of strong visuals, partly from the makeup (the horror sequences as Chloe finds her weird Mother, and Lana gets grabbed by a zombie version of herself!), but also from some stunning CGI. While I'm pretty sure they reused Lex' vision of being President of a doomed world from Season One's 'Hourglass' the new meteor storm destroying the SMC, and Jason's fall from the upper level of the Talon were most impressive for a TV show. It was obvious this wasn't reality early on - we've had so many scenes of Clark being subject to a lurid visit from some female with amorous or evil intention in his loft, that this was a play on the familiar. When Clark so easily succumbs to Lana, and Jason hits him about like an ordinary mortal it's quite clear this is either virtual reality, a dream, or in this case a nightmare.

The intentions of the various characters and there challenges in the episode are well-played. Lex shows some spark of his old concern for people when he worries about the experiment that's gone wrong, but as ever we're not sure if he really cares about the little people, his employees, and Clark's associates, or whether it's his reputation and that of Luthercorp that motivates him. It reminded me so much of past stories in which Luthercorp has committed some terrible act by mistake or design, and Lex gets extremely agitated, apologising profusely to Clark, while trying to sort the situation out privately. Chalk another one up to British Director David Carson for all that, as well as the writers for trying a bit harder. The actors had something to do with it too, I'm sure! The nastiness in this episode isn't the visual horror, as that's pretty standard and uncreative by 'Smallville' standards. No, it's the way it keeps us in suspense about so many things, but especially whether Clark will tell Chloe his secret, and who sprung Lionel. One of the best episodes of the season.

***

Secrets

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S2 (Secrets)

This moves the story on apace. In the space of one episode we find a Sharray in her normal mind (I was waiting for the parallel version, time paradox or other explanation for her presence!), meet Carter's Dad, Jacob, find out there's a leak in the Stargate programme, prevent Sharray's newly-born child from falling into Heruer's captivity, discover Jacob has cancer, and see Sharray and Apophis reunited while she deliberately doesn't reveal SG-1 hiding in the shadows. That's not to mention the possible murder of a journalist who knew too much - they don't usually fit this much plot into half a season!

Knowing Jacob from other episodes it's brilliant to see his first appearance, and tragic that Sam can't tell him about her secret work, even though he's dying. After the familial turmoil that Teal'c suffered in the previous episode you'd think he'd be more supportive of Daniel's strong feelings. But then he does have a sense of duty that puts the means of defeating the Goa'uld ahead of all other priorities. The second season so far hasn't scrimped on the ongoing plot details that took a back seat through much of the first, and episodes like this serve to further our interest as much as furthering knowledge - expanding the mythology and the characters. The scenes set on everyday Earth worked well against the familiar but alien setting of Abbydos, and the confidence of the series is starting to show through.

***

Shattered

DVD, Voyager S7 (Shattered)

Much more than a clips episode converted into one with new footage, this is a greatest hits package that gives them a chance to remember the good and bad times, where they started out and how far they've come in both personal and spatial terms. It also flags up the best excuse a Starfleet officer could ever need: if ever you're caught doing something you don't want to explain just tell your superior "can't tell yer - Temporal Prime Directive" in the most smug and superior voice you can muster mister. Then all your problems will go away. I expect.

Taking some inspiration from 'Relativity' this has a less serious side to it, perhaps Chakotay and the Captain even treat the situation a little too lightly. Between each encounter they walk down corridors wryly musing on the other's knowledge/lack thereof, letting slip little questions or answers. It doesn't detract from the episode, and the twinkle in Chakotay's eye reminds us of way back in Season Two's 'Resolutions', and there's a little bit of regret that things never worked out between them, while pointing to the deep friendship that developed.

Chakotay has been another of the main characters to be underused and underdeveloped, so a an episode for him to revisit moments from the past and help save the ship are appreciated. Linking him with Janeway, one from before they first met, and having him support the decision she made originally, and pointing to the important life-changing events that so many have had, gave him an opportunity to tell the viewers what the series has meant to the characters, as much as those viewing. It makes you wonder if any of the events will be recalled by those who were inoculated, or whether Chakotay was a special case.

Bringing Seska back, and Chaotica, and seeing different versions of Seven, Icheb, Naomi and others was a great idea, and even better when we get to see them all work together. The effect of the time shift looked good, as did the colour part of the monochrome holodeck scene. As usual, time changes make for an inventive story and one which plays to the series' strengths, reminding us why we've stayed with it for seven years.

****

The Icarus Factor

DVD, TNG S2 (The Icarus Factor)

That was a nice shot to end with: all the bridge officers in view, the status of family reaffirmed thanks to two personal stories carrying the episode. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Roddenberry's ideas of 'perfect' humanity throughout most of this episode. It seems fathers and sons still have the same problems of relating even in the 24th Century. Not that it mattered - the perfection was never a reality as much as Gene wanted, it was just that the characters tend to be more altruistic and selfless in their daily lives. Sometimes they can seem a touch arrogant and self-satisfied when driving home the point, but that's necessary, or it was at that time, because people weren't as familiar with the style of Trek as they would be now that so many episodes have passed under the bridge.

The pace hasn't changed in recent episodes - Season Two has been slower even than Season One in many episodes - so I can't say I welcomed this as a change of pace. I did enjoy seeing the shipboard people problems that must occur all the time, except we don't always know about them because we're dealing with more interesting things, like aliens or planets. The Tholians did score a mention, but they weren't involved in a story until almost fifteen years later, so it was no good pricking up your ears if you were watching back in 1988!

Something that does get addressed, if only in passing, is the bond between Troi and Riker. It hasn't really been important since last season's 'Haven', but it shows they still care. In Riker's illustrious career he passed up on many captaincies, and I'm not sure if this one was the first or second. Either way, he eventually got the girl, and then had the centre seat, so he got the best of both worlds. Worf's crazy, pain-loving antics are further explored with was a humourous line to that B-story to balance the serious A, and O'Brien is again coming to the fore as a friendly face everyone talks to. In his own small way, he's a bit like an Irish Guinan, only without the advice. Guinan herself hasn't appeared as much in the last few episodes, and it's safe to say that O'Brien has taken the crown for most recurring character so far.

The Anbo-Jitsu looked like fun, and had a lightsaber-baiting impression. I'm not sure it surpasses all martial arts as seemed to be implied, as the armour was quite cumbersome, and if anything, it recalled the lirpa battle from 'Amok Time' more than the precision of hand to hand combat. Always interesting to meet family of main characters, and it's only a shame Kyle wasn't used again. He gave us a window into Riker's past and some reconciliation to cheer us up.

**

Sherlock Holmes and The Voice of Terror

DVD, Sherlock Holmes and The Voice of Terror (1942) film

What might be called the first proper film, or the one where Rathbone and Bruce's style comes to the fore. The stark contrast of the lighting in this black and white world provides an artful visual aesthetic, enhanced by the claustrophobic outdoor sets, and the brightly lit interiors. These also provide a more realistic setting compared with 'The Hound of The Baskervilles'. The incidental music improves the film, after 'Baskervilles' did without.

An interesting facet of the story; the mysterious voice of terror, has an inadvertent extra twist to its identity, beyond the confines of the story, for those that happen to have viewed some of the other films in the series before this one - suspicion for such a viewer must inevitably fall on Lloyd, played by the pale Henry Daniell, better known for the recurring role of Moriarty, Holmes' most dangerous adversary. I remember seeing this and thinking Lloyd was the definite traitor, and waiting for Moriarty to be unmasked! They must have been impressed enough with his role here to give him arguably the third most important in the other films.

The story is inspired by 'His Last Bow' rather than following it closely, which would have been difficult to make into a film thanks to it being mostly set in one room. The reworking of the situation for the Second World War, already three years long at the time, instead of the build up to the First, probably helped the film series to get off to a strong start, and cleverly a note at the beginning explains Holmes is a hero for any time. I imagine if a film were made now, perhaps set during the Iraq war, it would be a lot more difficult to see the character in the same way, but the World Wars were close enough together and within a not too distant timeframe to the true life of the character so it doesn't seem as strange. To us, the early part of the 20th Century all seems so distant that giving or taking fifty years is less obvious anyway.

Holmes' speech is typical of the films made during the war period, and the pulling together of the British people and the backing of one of the best literary creations must have swelled with pride cinemagoers of the time. It was also the year America joined the war, so perhaps a film about Holmes, crossed with the reality of the war was a big hit. The story has more humour, and little asides that play with the stereotypes gently, such as the moment Watson makes Holmes wear a more contemporary hat instead of a deerstalker. Slightly more accomplished than 'Baskervilles' many of the elements that would become familiar to the film series began here, even if they aren't quite as compelling as some in the series.

**

Family

DVD, Stargate SG-1 S2 (Family)

A tough one for Teal'c and no mistake. A bit of the old rageful Teal'c from his time under Apophis shows himself at his wife and friend's betrayal, but his anger soon turns to concern, and thankfully there's a happy ending, with his family safely off to make a new life on the light and dark world. This episode looks especially fine, with luscious woodland, buildings of rich colour and depth, and even a scene with pinsharp rain. It also features the great Master Bre'tak and the return of Teal'c's family, so there's very little not to like.

As the story played out I thought that either Frotak would be a recurring character and Teal'c would have to get used to the idea that his wife belonged to another man, or, as happened, he'd turn traitor and be killed. It would have been too much soap to have continued that story into other episodes, so it just fits nicely into one. Riach grows taller each episode, and the young actor gives a mature performance of a child taken over by Apophis' control. His scene with Teal'c in the cell is really sad, but the one where his Father heals him by zapping the boy with a zat gun was a bit of an easy escape. Apophis reminds us that he escaped the destruction of his ship, and it could be interesting to see him and the other System Lord that was introduced, reacting to each other. In all, a good episode.

***

Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of The Baskervilles

DVD, Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of The Baskervilles (1939) film

This black and white version of what is probably Holmes' most famous story is both visually stark and aurally spare. The lack of any incidental music makes it a very strange experience and certainly lessens the atmosphere as the tension is generated purely from dialogue or sound effects, and the rustling and bumping of the soundtrack doesn't help. It is most interesting viewed as Basil Rathbone's first turn as the popular detective, and the character comes across very well, his verve and ingenuity well represented. Watson, on the other hand, is not true to the character of the books in anything more than his devotion to his friend, but Nigel Bruce's bumbling, put-upon version lightens a dark tale, with his mutterings and ineptitudes.

The other characters vary, and none live up to their literary equivalent. Richard Greene's American accent doesn't come across very well, and Dr. Mortimer is portrayed as a much more sinister man, presented as a possible early suspect. I don't remember any seances in the book, yet Mortimer's wife gets them together for one anyway, which serves no purpose. The howling on the moors is as spine-tingling as it should be, and the hound is ferocious, but the ending of the book with Holmes chasing Stapleton and the man falling prey to the Grimpen Mire were oddly altered so that Stapleton actually goes back and tries to poison Sir Henry!

The hound not being kept on an island in the Mire means Holmes gets stuck in the 'cage' and it all goes a bit wrong. The attack on Sir Henry was well played, although he did seem to survive it for quite a long time! I did like the way Hugo Baskerville's story was told, showing the events superimposed over the turning pages of the manuscript. In this version he didn't come across as the evil and cruel kidnapper and fiend of the book, and seemed a rather jolly sort, but I suppose the censorship of the time couldn't go into too much detail.

On the whole I liked the look of the production, the sets were pretty good, and Holmes' costume as the wandering pedlar was fun, though you can't disguise that regal nose, however, I didn't feel it was one of the better versions, taking a few too many liberties with what was a very strong story in its own right. The later films tended to have their own narratives, so there was less to complain about when the writing differed from the books, so perhaps this suffers because of its source.

*