Tag Archives: Sci-fi

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds – Through the Lens of Time [S3E5] – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is one of those episodes that, structurally, I should love, but is filled with these moments that pull you out of the narrative.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

The away team down on the planet.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Introduction –

Today, we are looking at a bit of a frustrating episode of Star Trek, because it is filled with incredible highs and, unfortunately, deep lows. It is one of those contrasts that can derail an episode, which is what happened here to an extent. It is filled to the brim with all these classical elements that make it shine, but which crash against serial elements that pull it all apart.  

So, to set the scene, the USS Enterprise have been invited by the M’Kroon to the planet Vadia IX. The M’Kroon are a very wary people and have politely declined Federation involvement in the past. But Roger Korby (Cillian O’Sullivan) has found a magnetic anomaly in one of their most sacred locations. After much work from Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) and Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), the M’Kroon have allowed a small landing party to explore the site. Only to discover there may be more to this place than meets the eye. 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 – A Space Adventure Hour [S3E4] – TV Review

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TL;DR – Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Adventure. Its episode-long mission: to make meta commentary; try and outdo Lower Decks with a Riker reference; and serve shade on William Shatner like never before!

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene.

Maxwell Saint

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

Today, I might have watched one of the profoundly odd episodes of Star Trek that has ever Star Treked across the universe. That is, on one hand, a deep love letter to the Original Series in all its camp glory. But it is also a strong critique of the era, while it skirted the edge of canon. It is an episode where you spend most of the runtime wondering: just what did I watch?

So, to set the scene, while the USS Enterprise is at station watching a pulsar starting to collapse, the admiralty thought that this would be the perfect time to test the new holodeck, because if ships are going to be away from base for more than five years, they will need more entertainment opportunities. Thinking of the best candidate to test the holodeck to the limits, there was only one candidate, La’An Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong). So, she decides to base it on the Amelia Moon novels that she loved as a child. 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 – Shuttle to Kenfori [S3E3] – TV Review

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TL;DR – It is time to get our Horror on as something creeps in the dark, waiting to strike. Oh, and the Klingons are here too. 

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The USS Enterprise approaches Kenfori.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

One thing you need to know about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is that it is not afraid to take wild swings in tone and also go “how about we do an ‘insert x’ episode? The sort of episode that makes no sense being in a Star Trek show, but goodness, do they pull it off more times than not. Sometimes this can be a musical episode, but today it is time to dip our toes in some straight-up horror.  

So, to set the scene, back in Hegemony Part II, Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano) caught a bad case of Gorn larvae, and while they thought they had cured the infection, unfortunately, the Gorn are resilient. She didn’t have much hope left, save for one Hail Mary, a Chimera flower only found in Kenfori. There was once a Federation research base on the planet, but it was evacuated during the Klingon-Federation War. Now, it is in the Restricted Zone drawn up after the war. Which means they must undertake a black ops mission, and Pike (Anson Mount) and M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) take a shuttle down to the surface. The research station is still there, and so is the flower. But why is there no animal life on the planet? And why is there a Klingon beacon blasting a warning above the planet? 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 – Hegemony Part II [S3E1] – TV Review

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TL;DR – it is time to bring the battle to the Gorn, if they can save everyone from a gruesome death.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Shields at 30%.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

It is that wonderful time of year when I get to welcome some new Star Trek. After the smorgasbord of shows in 2024, it has been a bit of a wait, but I am now and always will be here for more Strange New Worlds. We may only have three seasons left of the show, but I am ready to enjoy each and every episode, starting with the follow-up to last season’s cliffhanger.  

So, to set the scene, after hinting for two seasons, the Gorn are here, and not only are they here, but they have also started taking Federation planets. Fighting across the planet to save the colonists, while Starfleet headquarters called them back, it is what Enterprise crews are made of. The only problem is that when they beamed out all the survivors, some of the transporters were green, and the Federation does not use green transporters. Now, Captain Pike (Anson Mount) must work out how to save his crew and the woman he loves before they fall to the Gorn. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Dune Prophecy: Two Wolves – TV Review

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TL;DR – Games with games, betrayals with betrayals, prophecies with prophecies.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Binge service that viewed this series.

Spacing Guild Liner.

Dune Prophecy Review –

Now that I have watched the first two episodes of Dune Prophecy, I can see what sort of vibe they are going for. It is safe to say that this series is not going to be for everyone. Indeed, it is tonally quite different from the two Dune Films, but probably not so different from the next Dune Film, whenever it happens. However, I will say that the one person this series is for is me, and I am pleased about that fact.  

So, to set the scene, in The Hidden Hand, we see that many different factions are moving in secret to find power in this new empire. The sisters of the Bene Gesserit are at a crossroads, wondering where their future will lead. Spice mining is becoming more difficult, but that might be one of the Great Houses moving for power rather than rebellion from the local population. Also, political marriages are becoming tense when child husbands end up dead. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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Star Trek: Prodigy – Ascension, Part I & Part 2 – TV Review

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TL;DR – Honestly, wow, I was sitting on the edge of my chair for the whole episode.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this series.

The USS Voyager-A and the USS Protostar.

Star Trek: Prodigy Review –

Have you ever been sitting watching a show and suddenly thought, “Hey, whatever happened to [insert important plot point here]”, only to get slapped in the face with that plot point a few moments later? Well, if you have ever had that happen to you, then you will know what I felt like as we jump into the episode today.  

So, to set the scene, after getting the USS Protostar back into orbit during the Last Flight of the Protostar and a number of struggles, we finally get back into contact with the USS Voyager-A. While Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Chakotay (Robert Beltran) get a moment to reconnect, things go from bad to worse. First, Starfleet wants them back to Earth so that they can deal with the Protostar themselves. But before that can happen, a danger from the past comes back with a vengeance. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: Mort: Ragnarick

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TL;DR – A classic episode structured in such a way that it knows it will get complaints from an entire religious organisation.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this episode.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Valhalla.

Rick and Morty Review –

As we continue through this very disjointed and somewhat experimental season, culminating in last week’s Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie, which was a Rick and Morty episode without Rick. Well, it’s almost as if they knew the response to that episode and prepared accordingly because this week’s episode, named after Thor: Ragnarok, is almost like a classic episode writ large, including a b-plot for a change.

So to set the scene, after killing Jerry (Chris Parnell) multiple times to confirm, Rick (Ian Cardoni) finds out that there are “heavens” of some sort. But Rick, being Rick, wants to tap into that unlimited energy, and it can be just any kind of heaven. So, he and Morty (Harry Belden) go to Norway, where he gets Bigfoot () to kill him so he can go to Ragnarok. It’s a solid plan. I just sure hope nothing goes wrong. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: The Giggle – TV Review

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TL;DR – A riot of dancing and murder as a villain from the deep past returns and carves up the screen.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

Warning – Many, many messed up dolls.

The TARDIS flying through space.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, it has been a ride, but today, we have come to the end of the three Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials. We started with Donna (Catherine Tate) and The Doctor (David Tennant) getting back together in The Star Beast. Then we got weird with Wild Blue Yonder, which harkened back to a classic episode of the show. But all of these come to their fruition tonight when we get an old villain returning, some good friends, oh and probably a regeneration.

So to set the scene, in Soho in 1925, there was a toy maker who was unnerving in the extreme, with a German accent that seemed to slip. I mean, what could be the worst thing to be sent on the first TV signal but a burning doll head? Back in the Today, at the end of Wild Blue Yonder, The Doctor and Donna crash land back into the alley they left in The Star Beastto find Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) waiting for them. Because everyone else has gone into hiding as the world falls apart. Because everyone thinks they are right all the time, and they will not back down for anything. Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.   

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TV Review – Rick and Morty: Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie

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TL;DR – Asks the question, can you do an episode of Rick and Morty without Rick? And the answer is: sure.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix subscription that viewed this episode.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a post-credit scene.

Moments befroe the death of Q

Rick and Morty Review –

It can be hard to break when you have built your show around some bedrock principles, so you have enshrined them in your show’s title. Well, if this season of Rick and Morty is known for one thing, it is breaking with what they have established in the past, and this time that is, can you have a Rick and Morty episode without Rick?

So to set the scene, Morty (Harry Belden) has one of those rare moments where he is not out on an adventure with Rick (Ian Cardoni) and is instead at Harry Herpson High School in Mr. Goldenfold’s (Brandon Johnson) math class. After getting detention, he is held back, which is when Water-T (Dan Harmon) arrives because the Numbericons have invaded his planet and killed his father, Helium-Q (Ice-T). Now, only Goldenfold can save them. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Doctor Who: The Star Beast – TV Review

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TL;DR – We hit back to the joyful chaos of the past, and not even a couple of clunky moments hold it back from being a delight.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The TARDIS flying through space.

Doctor Who Review –

Well, there are many constants in the universe, and one of them is Doctor Who getting a new regeneration, or well, in this case, an old regeneration, to prepare for a new regeneration. Look, this is the first time this has happened, but also, this feels like something that could happen all the time. This is also the moment Doctor Who takes a real jump across the pond with the global backing of Disney+. It is both a brand-new era and the return of what has come before, a very Doctor Who situation.

So to set the scene, at the end of The Power of The Doctor, The Doctor regenerated, but something odd happened. Instead of a brand-new body, he knew those teeth, he knew that face, and he was still not a ginger. For The Doctor (David Tennant) had regenerated into the same body as the Tenth Doctor [who technically already got a regeneration, but we don’t count that]. Something is very wrong, or it could be that this version of The Doctor has some unfinished business that he needs to take care of. Which is right when he runs into Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and her child Rose (Yasmin Finney) and then a spaceship crashes into the heart of London. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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