Tag Archives: Science Fiction Television

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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Foundation: A Glimpse of Darkness – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week, we continue to see the outworking of NJ Demerath III’s adage that “politics and religion are like a moth to a flame.”

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

A sun sets over a ring world.

Foundation Review –

It is no shock that I love me some Science Fiction. Indeed, I will take it in just about any form I can get it. But deep down, I think my favourite must be a good Space Opera with all its pontifications on show. It is a universe full of pomp and circumstance, and I am here for it.

So to set the scene, things are fraying all across the Empire, and no one is immune to its changes. On a water planet now home to a dead civilization, Hari Seldon (Jared Harris), Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), and Salvor Hardin (Leah Harvey) confront each other as old wounds are laid bare. As the Empire retreats from the outer rim, the Foundation starts to slip out, coming as magicians and priests to those planets that have lost everything. But not everyone is happy with a potential new master after just getting rid of the last one. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.     

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Foundation: In Seldon’s Shadow – TV Review

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TL;DR – This opening episode whispers where they are going this season while opening with a Hari Seldon, that might be a little mad.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Apple TV+ service that viewed this episode.

The Galaxy.

Foundation Review –

I had always wondered how someone would adapt Foundation. Some of the older works of Science Fiction are foundational to the genre but don’t align narratively with how we create stories today. The First Season was full of interesting turns and explorations while expanding on Asimov’s world. It was not without its flaws, but it was always fascinating. My question is, where can it go from there?    

So to set the scene, at the end of last season, we had The First Crisis appear on the planet of Foundation set up by the leaders of psychohistory, Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) and Gaal Dornick (Lou Llobell), to help the galaxy recover from the inevitable collapse of the 12,000-year old Galactic Empire. The first crisis was solved by uniting two former enemies and hiding themselves in the outer rim, building a base for recovery. The Cleon Dynasty is floundering after revelations about their DNA ancestry and on the small water planet of Synnax, a mother and daughter reunite. 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 – Charades – TV Review

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TL;DR – Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, but in space is a good set-up for a fun story.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Something is very wrong.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

One of the best choices for the first season of Strange New Worlds was to delve into the relationship between Spock (Ethan Peck) and his then fiancé T’Pring (Gia Sandhu). We only got one episode of this in The Original Series, so it makes sense to shed more light on it here. This led to the amazing Spock Amok and now its follow-up Charades.

So to set the scene, the USS Enterprise is making a slow loop through the Vulcan sector as they explore a moon of the extinct Kerkhov species before visiting Vulcan, where Spock will have a V’Shal dinner. However, Spock and Chapel (Jess Bush) get sucked into a vortex while exploring the ruins. When the Enterprise found the shuttle, it had been repaired from the crash, but when they put Spock back together, they made him fully human. 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: Strange New Worlds – Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – TV Review

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TL;DR – An interesting episode on its surface narrative, but even more intriguing once you think about the ramifications.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

The USS Enterprise.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

If there has been one thing that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has excelled at, it is making the most out of its ensemble cast. Nearly every central cast member gets to play a role in the A or B story for the week. However, they also make sure that everyone gets their own focus episode. [well, almost everyone, shout out to Ortegas (Melissa Navia)]. This week it is La’an turn to shine as we get whisked away from the Enterprise to somewhere a bit closer to home.  

So to set the scene, La’an Noonien-Singh’s (Christina Chong) role as chief of security means that she has the unfortunate job of knowing everyone’s business, even when they don’t want it, which is amplified given her mixed emotions regarding Una (Rebecca Romijn) and her behaviour when Una came out as a modified Illyrian. But as she was walking the deck of the USS Enterprise, a white light exploded out from another room, and a gentleman in a suit and a gun wound walked out, talking about an explosion that she had to stop. He disappears in another bright light, but when La’an makes it to the bridge, James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) is now the captain and no one knows who she is. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Silo: The Getaway – TV Review

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TL;DR – Much like the staircase that stretches from the top to almost the bottom, the situation in the Silo is starting to spiral out of control.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Red Level Relic 18

Silo Review –

While Silo started to lose its way, a touch, in the middle, like many shows before and after it, last week’s Hanna felt like an immediate return to form as the show threw off its restraints and started running at 100km an hour. This week continues that same pattern as we barrel along to the season finale.  

So to set the scene, all seems lost as Bernard Holland (Tim Robbins) reveals that as well as being the Head of IT, he is also in charge of the secret force that maintains order in the Silo. He and Holston Becker (Common) lie that Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson) said she wanted to go outside, a death sentence. There was one hope, as Nichols was being marched up the central staircase, she realised that Paul Billings (Chinaza Uche) was having one of his tremors and used it to escape his grip, grab her bag with the hard drive and dived off the staircase. Thankfully landing on one of the cross-struts and not plummeting to her death 70-odd layers down. But now she is on the run, and almost everyone in the Silo is after her and the secrets she holds. 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: Strange New Worlds – Ad Astra per Aspera – TV Review

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TL;DR – An episode that wears its heart on its sleeve and leaves very little room to misinterpret the moral lesson it is exploring.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

If there is one thing that Star Trek has always been is political. They were not subtle with it, given Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, to say the least. It has also been full of episodes based around trials that speak for their time, like The Measure of a Man. It is time for Strange New Worlds to take its take, and what a take it is.  

So to set the scene, back in Season One, we discovered that Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) is actually an Illyrian who cannot serve in Starfleet due to their extensive genetic modifications. In the season finale, A Quality of Mercy, she was arrested. Sent to prison, she has been offered a deal that includes dishonourable dismissal. In The Broken Circle, Captain Pike (Anson Mount) has travelled to a planet in the Vaultera Nebula, where only Illyrians can live to meet with Neera Ketoul (Yetide Badaki) to be her lawyer. A last-ditch chance to save Una’s career. Now we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Silo: Hanna – TV Review

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TL;DR – After some meandering around, we start making a run to the end of the season.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

An underground corn field.

Silo Review –

When we last reviewed Silo with Truth, it was setting up this world of mystery and intrigue, and then it proceeded to meander around for the last couple of episodes, which was fine but didn’t quite capture me in the way those opening episodes did. Well, now we are at the pointy end of the season, and the plot has picked back up as we dive back under the surface to a world on the cusp of falling apart.

So to set the scene, in The Flamekeepers, Juliette Nichols discovers that a group of people have tried to keep information from before the rebellion. With a secret book that shows that the is/was a world outside of the Silo, and it was full of expansive beauty. Alas, Juliette did not notice that the flowers had been removed from her mirror, so now Robert Sims (Common) and the others also know that she knows. But as she tries to find out who is moving people from behind the scenes, Juliette discovers that Judge Meadows (Tanya Moodie) might not be the villain she expected her to be. 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: Strange New Worlds – The Broken Circle – TV Review

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TL;DR – is a good grounding for the rest of the season while being an excellent adventure romping through the quadrant.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Cajitar IV

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Review –

Last year we got one of my recent joys was discovering the first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I have been enjoying this new batch of Star Trek, but this hit something a little special. I loved the wild swings in the genres that we got, some truly spectacular effects, and some solid character work. It was a new high watermark for modern Science Fiction, and I am glad we are jumping back into it today.

So to set the scene, the USS Enterprise is back in Spacedock for a complete refurbishment and inspection after everything it has been through. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) has gone on leave to find someone to defend Commander Una ‘Number One’ Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn), who is still under arrest for lying on her Starfleet application. He leaves Spock (Ethan Peck) in charge and tells him not to worry because what can happen in Spacedock? Fast forward to Ensign Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) getting a secret message from La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) that there is a danger on a planet on the Klingon border, and it could be a problem for the whole Federation. 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: Picard – The Last Generation and Season Three – TV Review

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TL;DR – They stuck the landing.   

Rating: 5 out of 5.

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

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

The USS Enterprise-D

Star Trek: Picard Review –

The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard has come to an end, and more like any season so far, this felt almost like Star Trek: The Next Generation season 8. There was a little concern coming into the start of the season as to whether they could make it more than just a nostalgia fest. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of nostalgia on offer here. But there is also a lot of heart. In today’s review, we will first look at whether they stuck the landing with the final episode and then at the season and maybe the series as a whole.

So to set the scene, in Võx, we discovered the terrible secret that Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) had been holding so tight that even he did not know, he is The Borg. Or at least he had inherited some of the DNA changes The Borg made to Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). This made him reach out to the voice in his head … The Borg Queen (Alice Krige/Jane Edwina Seymour) herself. Which sets in motion The Borg’s final plan to trigger the Borg DNA inserted in all the young officers and remotely assimilate them using Jack’s ability, and it works. The fleet is taken over, most of those not assimilated are killed, and only Spacedock stands between The Borg and the extermination of Earth. 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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