Tag Archives: Jack Quaid

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Old Friends, New Planets and Season Four- TV Review

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TL;DR – A solid end to a fascinating series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

Walking across the bridge at the Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

We have reached the end of the season for Star Trek: Lower Decks of what has been a solid season for the series. However, when you have summoned the great ‘To Be Continued …’, you must ensure you live up to that hype. In today’s review, we will first tackle the season finale and then look at the season as a whole.

So to set the scene, at the end of The Inner Fight, we discovered that the person behind all of the ship mutinies was former Starfleet Academy bad boy Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill). What is worse, he has just kidnapped Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and warped her away to his lair, where his fleet is kept. He is trying to start a revolution across space with a Genesis device to back it up. Starfleet is holding back so it does not accidentally cause a war, but Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) does not have the time to wait. We will be looking at the episode and series as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Inner Fight – TV Review

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TL;DR – A tail of two parts, one fascinating, the other frustrating.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

Outpost Scientists.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

It is the penultimate of Star Trek: Lower Decks’ fifth season, and I wondered if the show could pull all those different threads together. Since the revelation at the start of the season about a mysterious ship destroying non-Federation vessels, it felt like we were barrelling towards something. Now it is time to see if that something was worth barrelling towards.

So to set the scene, we open in on Persioff IX, where a pair of Outpost Scientists are observing a local creature that spits acid and is covered in neurotoxin, and when things go wrong, Mariner (Tawny Newsome) rushes out to fix the problem herself. Her friends, Tendi (Noël Wells), Boimler (Jack Quaid), Rutherford (Eugene Cordero), and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz), have become concerned about this risk-taking behaviour, even the command crew. When Shaxs (Fred Tatasciore) is concerned about your risk-taking behaviour, you know there is a problem. All they need to do is distract Mariner because they must pick up notorious risk taker Nick Locarno (Robert Duncan McNeill) before he influences Mariner to do even more risky behaviour. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: Caves – TV Review

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TL;DR –  A charming clip of friends stuck in a cave.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

As Season Four of Star Trek Lower Decks progresses, I have been genuinely joyful about how the shake-up of promoting the team has let the show evolve its dynamic. But never one to shy away from a good reference. This week, we get not one but two deep cuts as we dive into the world of Star Trek caves.

So to set the scene, we open on the planet of Grottonus as the USS Cerritos orbits above. It has been an age since they were promoted, and for the first time, the old lower decks team of Boimler (Jack Quaid), Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Tendi (Noël Wells), and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) have all been put on the same away mission. Mariner is ecstatic right up until she discovers that it is a “cave mission”. Everyone else loves caves, but like clockwork, there is a tremor, and the away team is trapped. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.       

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee – TV Review

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TL;DR – It’s promotion time, and things are changing on the USS Cerritos  

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Romulan wreckage.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

There is only one thing better than a new episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks dropping. That is two episodes dropping at the same time. But if Twovix was the episode where our crew [mostly] got promoted. Then I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee is looking at the fallout of that decision.

So to set the scene, in Romulan space and on a Tal Shiar ship, the crew are busy cleaning up the Reman juice leftover from an interrogation when a strange ship appears and blasts it away. Back on the USS Cerritos, the crew is busy backing up their bunks because they are now all Lieutenant Junior Grades. Well, Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), and D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) all got promoted. Poor Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) got left behind, but for how long? Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: Twovix – TV Review

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TL;DR – Not all the story worked, but jumping back into this world was still a delight.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
The USS Cerritos approaches the Star Base.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

After a stellar final season of Star Trek: Picard and a stunning follow-up season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, surely there is nothing left of Star Trek in 2023 … right? Well, hold on to your horses because Lower Decks is back and committing to changing one of its core features, changing the tone of the show … okay, not that much.

So to set the scene, the USS Cerritos has been sent on its most secretive mission so far. No one knows why they have been sent to this starbase until the lights turn on and everyone witnesses the joy that is the USS Voyager [Insert theme song here]. They have to escort the now museum ship to its permanent resting place. This should be a breeze, but Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) lets Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) know he is up for a promotion, just as long as he fails spectacularly. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Those Old Scientists – TV Review

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TL;DR – This episode brought a smile to my face from the moment it started till the second those end credits rolled.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ streaming service that viewed this episode. 

The Strange New Worlds title sequence done in the style of Lower Decks.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

A cross-over episode used to be the mainstay of network television, with some franchises building their worlds upon it. But for every Brooklyn Nine-Nine/ The New Girl moment that is so perfectly placed that it lives on in memes. You have a sea of awkward messes that fail to elevate either side. Star Trek saw this and went, you know what, let’s take this issue of trying to get two different shows with different vibes to work and add the extra difficulty of both shows being a different medium. But does it work? Oh, yes, it does.   

So to set the scene, it is 2381, and the USS Cerritos has arrived at Krulmuth-B to take a regular scan of the portal on the surface. It has not been active since the time of Pike, but you always need to make sure. Ensigns Boimler (Jack Quaid), Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Tendi (Noël Wells), and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) beam down to the planet to make sure. It was all going well until the portal is accidentally activated when Boimler is posing for a photo and is sucked in before Mariner can grab him. Waking up after being jettisoned, Boimler looks up to see himself in the sickbay of an old Constitution Class ship to see the one and only Captain Pike (Anson Mount) staring down, and well, he ain’t in Kansas anymore. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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Oppenheimer – Movie Review

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TL;DR – A visual spectacle and a masterclass in dissecting a complicated life.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I was invited to a press screening of this film.

Warning – Contains a scene that may cause distress.

Exploding Flames.

Oppenheimer Review –

Every now and again, my old life and new life collide in interesting ways. All those years of teaching and exploring Arms Control and Disarmament finally became relevant in my current career. The story of the Manhattan Project is fascinating, as was the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, whose scope I doubt even three hours can completely cover. But given my general love of Christopher Nolan’s work [see Inception and Dunkirk], I knew I could not miss this one.

So to set the scene, the world is at war as Germany marches across Europe and Japan across the Pacific. This is already a dangerous predicament, but the world of theoretical physics has been running leaps and bounds forward, and everyone can see the endpoint, a bomb, a bomb of devastating potential. What happens if the Nazis get a bomb that can destroy cities? As the world scrambles, only one person in America can lead the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy). However, his past might contain more problems than the government can handle.

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: Hear All, Trust Nothing – TV Review

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TL;DR – A perfect blend of nostalgia and fun.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
The USS Cerritos at Deep Space Nine.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

I have made it clear in the past when looking at Lower Deck’s First and Second Seasons that I have enjoyed this someone irreverent take on the Star Trek universe. However, in those two seasons, while they may have dipped their toes in referencing Deep Space Nine, my favourite Star Trek show, today, they dive in phasers blasting.

So to set the scene, the USS Cerritos is en route to a meeting to support the USS Vancouver and their trade negotiations with the Karemma. But when the Vancouver was diverted for an emergency evacuation of a colony, the Cerritos and Captain Carol Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) had to take charge. Dropping out of warp at Deep Space Nine, Freeman asks the crew to buy her some time, and Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) suggests pretending to be in awe of the pylons or something. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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The Boys: Season 3 – TV Review

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TL;DR – It was a slow start to the season, but it did start to hit as it went on, but more than anything, this felt like it was just setting everything up for a season 4 and not a complete whole in its own right.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this film

The many press conferences of Homelander.

The Boys Review –

Some shows have a simple premise on the surface, but you find the depths underneath when you outwork that premise. With The Boys, we get ‘what if people with superpowers were pricks’, but from here, we start delving into what that means. What would having all that popularity and fame do to someone with superhero qualities and who could destroy ordinary people instantly. This is taken even further but exploring what corporate/political frameworks would exist to manage and exploit this phenomenon. Now we are in the third season, and all of that groundwork has been laid, but then the question is, what will grow from this foundation? 

So to set the scene, at the start of the season, everything is in a state of stability, or well as much peace that one can when dealing with people who can shoot laser beams out of their eyes. Hughie (Jack Quaid) is now one of the chief members of a task force working with congresswoman Victoria “Vic” Neuman (Claudia Doumit) going after rogue supes. The rest of The Boys’ team, Butcher (Karl Urban), Frenchie (Tomer Capone), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara), run sanctioned missions targeting supes that mess up like Termite (Brett Geddes). Over at Vought, Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) has been keeping a more fractured Homelander (Antony Starr) under wraps as he goes on an apology tour after the events of Season Two and then promotes Starlight (Erin Moriarty) to co-captain to smooth over the disastrous press from the Stormfront (Aya Cash) revelation. But stability can’t last, and as Hughie sees Vic pop some dude’s head, he discovers there is no way he can get anything done while working in the system. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode and season as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – A joy to watch each week and one of the strongest full seasons of Star Trek we have gotten in a while.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
Star Trek: Lower Decks: Season 2. Image Credit: Amazon Prime.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review –

When Star Trek: Lower Decks was first announced, some understandable eyebrows were raised. The last animated show was quietly ditched from canon, and a new show animated in the style of Rick and Morty or Solar Opposites was an unknown quantity. Also, some sectors of the Star Trek fandom are not really known for embracing change (I mean, case and point that one shot of a Ferengi in the Star Trek Discovery trailer). But Season One showed that there was no need to be concerned, and Season Two showed that this might be some of the best Trek.  

So to set the scene, at the end of Season One, the USS Cerritos found itself on the unexpected end of a Pakled attack. While the help of Rutherford’s (Eugene Cordero) computer virus and Shaxs’ (Fred Tatasciore) sacrifice, they could defeat one ship, but not the other three that warped in afterwards. Looking certain doom in the face, all was lost until the USS Titan under the command of Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) warped in. Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and her mum, Captain Freeman (Dawnn Lewis), formed a truce in the aftermath. Tendi (Noël Wells) was sad to see that Rutherford had lost all his memories, and Boimler (Jack Quaid) took a promotion to the Titan. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.  

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