Star Trek: Lower Decks: A Farewell to Farms – TV Review

TL;DR – Crack out the Bat’leths and open the good Bloodwine casks because it is time to visit Qo’noS

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Lower Decks Title Card looking over a Qo-noS sunset..

Star Trek: Lower Decks Review

When you have been watching shows for quite a while, you pick up telltale signs that something big is about to happen. One of those is the lack of a Title Sequence. Wait, the cast names not on the backdrop of a coming calamity of Borg, Tholians, Klingons, Romulans, Pakleds, oh and is that V’ger? But instead, it was on a warm sunset in Qo’noS. Well, you know something big is about to happen.

So, to set the scene, we are on Qo’noS, and Captain Ma’ah (Jon Curry) has been sequestered/banished to labouring work on the family farm. He is making Bloodwine (from worms, most likely Gagh) and raising Targ. He stubbornly avoids the comm call with a Federation signature. But if Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is one thing, it is persistent. He is stuck because the one who stripped him of his captainship is now the one who decides if he can get it back. Although Boimler (Jack Quaid) does know a lot about Klingon Bureaucratic minutia, and the Ritual of J’ethurgh is right there. 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: Prodigy – Ouroboros, Part I, Part 2, and Full Season – TV Review

TL;DR – A beautiful end to a season, and hopefully not an end of a series.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

A time portal opens up over Earth.

Star Trek: Prodigy Review

Alas, we have come to the end of the second and hopefully not last season of Star Trek: Prodigy. What a season it was. We will take some time a bit later to explore the season as a whole, but before that, we need to dive into this incredible season finale that went places I was not expecting at all.

So, to set the scene, after Asencia (Jameela Jamil) attacked the USS Voyager-A and the USS Protostar, it became clear that something had to happen before she did irreparable harm to The Federation with her time weapons. The problem is that Starfleet is already spread so far that there is no one else about to get out that far to help them. The combined crews need to stop them fast because, little do they know, Asencia has captured Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) and mined his mind for secrets she can use to cause galaxy-wide chaos. 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: Prodigy – Ascension, Part I & Part 2 – TV Review

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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Star Trek: Prodigy – Last Flight of the Protostar, Part I & Part 2 – TV Review

TL;DR – It is time to escape a world and find who we are.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Protostar sails across the planet.

Star Trek: Prodigy Review

After a season-long hunt for one Chakotay (Robert Beltran), there was always going to be a question of whether the series would be able to stick that landing. That is a huge emotional weight with a payoff that is needed given they are a legacy character … and you know what, I think they did it.    

So, to set the scene, at the end of The Devourer of All Things, as the time vultures circled in, there was only one hope left for the future. That was our team of Dal (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell), Jankom (Jason Mantzoukas), Zero, Murf (Dee Bradley Baker), Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), and now also Maj’el (Michaela Dietz) had to jump through a portal to places unknown. Good news: they found the USS Protostar and Captain Chakotay. Bad news: they are stuck on a sand bar on a K-class planet and have no way to get off it. 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 – The Devourer of All Things, Part I & Part 2 – TV Review

TL;DR – This two-parter was a clear love letter to Star Trek.   

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

USS Voyager-A over a planet

We are at the midway point in Star Trek Prodigy’s second season, and what a season we have had so far. We have swapped around holograms, had conversations with whales, been led by mysterious foes, and also discovered that The Doctor (Robert Picardo) 100% has written at least one enemies-to-lovers holonovel. However, everything is about to shift under their feet, and I can’t wait to see how.

So, to set the scene, after taking some shortcuts through an abandoned Borg Transwarp Conduit and stopping to get Zero (Angus Imrie) a real body. The team of Dal (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell), Jankom (Jason Mantzoukas), Zero, Murf (Dee Bradley Baker), and Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) have arrived at the coordinates in the nebula hoping to find a clue from Chakotay (Robert Beltran). But when they find a planet hidden in subspace, things take a turn. 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 – Into the Breach, Part I & Part 2 – TV Review

TL;DR – This was a joyful jump back into this world that you can clearly see was made with love.  

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Starfleet Academy.

Star Trek: Prodigy Review

Well, the first season of Star Trek: Prodigy was a bit of an odd duck. It was first meant to be on Nickelodeon, then Paramount+, then even then we couldn’t get it out here, then dropped weirdly, and then it was cancelled on Paramount+ and removed from the service, which was a stupid choice, only to CBS to shop it around and get it picked up by Netflix. While it has been a wild ride to get to that point, I am glad we had it because it means we can look at the first two episodes of the second season today.    

So, to set the scene, after the end of last season, Dal (Brett Gray), Jankom (Jason Mantzoukas), Zero (Angus Imrie), Rok-Tanh (Rylee Alazraqui), and Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) have landed on Earth and have been taking classes to prepare them for the entrance exam to Starfleet Academy. They are not technically cadets yet, but they could be. But when Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) has a mission for them, they jump to join, especially when they see the new USS Voyager-A. Meanwhile, Gwyn (Ella Purnell) is taking the long trip back to her homeworld on a mission to stop the coming civil war from ever happening. 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: Discovery – Life, Itself & Season 5 – TV Review

TL;DR – While you can tell this was never meant to be a season finale, it did still give us a lovely swan song for the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Binary Blackholes.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

All good things come to an end, and while it was never meant to be the final episode, it is the end. In today’s review, we will first look at how the episode works as a finale. Then, we will take a look at Season 5 as a whole. Finally, we will take a moment to look back at the series in its entirety, the bastion of a new wave of Star Trek during the second golden age of Sci-Fi.    

So to set the scene, after spending all season trying to track down the Progenitor tech, the crew of the USS Discovery-A finally made it to the end of the treasure hunt. However, the Breen beat them to it in Lagrange Point. But as the portal to the tech gets flung into the binary black holes, Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Mol (Eve Harlow) get trapped inside. Now, the Discovery is trapped outside with an angry Breen dreadnaught and a new fleet on its way if Saru (Doug Jones) can’t stop them. Now, we will be looking at the Episode, Season, and Series as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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Star Trek: Discovery – Lagrange Point – TV Review

TL;DR – A race to the end, but with some real charm.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Escaping twin blackholes.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

Well, it is the penultimate episode of the series, and I am not sure, but I am ready for it to end. Today, we get a perfectly solid part 1 to the end of the season and a part 1 to the end of a series. This is a significant burden to bear, even when you know it is coming, which makes the question today, how did it hold up when it didn’t know what it would end up being?  

So to set the scene, after the final clue was revealed in Labyrinths, it is now a race between the USS Discovery-A and the Breen to get to the location of the Progenitor’s tech. The only problem is that it is not just one Breen faction after the tech, and the Discovery was severely damaged in the last conflict. After Spore jumping in between two black holes, the Discovery is finally able to find the technology, only to see the Breen arrive and snatch it in front of their eyes. So, can the crew find a way to steal it back before the warring factions of the Breen descend on the power of creation itself? Now, 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: Discovery – Labryinths – TV Review

TL;DR – A fun action romp of an episode.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

The Breen Mourn.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

We are getting to the pointy end of Discovery’s final season, and so far, I have been enjoying our treasure hunt across the galaxy. However, as we come towards the final piece in the puzzle, we need to ask, will the treasure be worth the hunt?

So to set the scene, in Erigah, two significant events happened. First, the Breen went from being mysterious and dangerous to being outright hostile, with the knowledge of what The Federation was seeking. Secondly, the crew finally unlocked the answer to take them to the final clue. This time, it was hidden in the Eternal Gallery and Archive in the book Labyrinths of the Mind. The Gallery is hiding in The Badlands, and hopefully, the USS Discovery-A can get to them before the Breen. Now, 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: Discovery – Erigah – TV Review

TL;DR – A very Star Trek episode all about whether violence or diplomacy is the best way forward.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

USS Locherer catches up with Moll and l'ak.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

We are starting to get into the back half of the season, and you can feel things starting to come ahead. This would be tense in any season, but given this is the final season of Discovery, you can feel that being amplified even more so because the Breen are coming.  


So to set the scene, after finding the next clue in an abandoned weather tower, the next hint was some sort of Betazed text inscription. But when the USS Locherer catch up with Moll (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis), the Discovery jumps straight there and beams them to their sick bay. L’ak is in bad shape and needs emergency cryo-therapy at Starfleet HQ before he dies. But the Breen knows where they are and are coming for Starfleet HQ with a dreadnaught, and everyone can feel that we are at a tipping point. Now, we will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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