Tag Archives: Wilson Cruz

Star Trek: Discovery – Rosetta  – TV Review

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TL;DR – Preparing for the end by going into the belly of the beast  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek: Discovery – Rosetta

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

This season we have gotten a combination of some of the best Star Trek has to offer attached to what feels like story elements that just exist to pad out time. Thankfully, the strength of the characters and the production has smoothed over some of those issues, but as we rocket towards the end, I have begun to be a bit concerned. But this week, we finally got some answers about the nature of the 10-C.

So to set the scene, after the colossal stuff up of Book (David Ajala) and Tarka (Shawn Doyle) led to the 10-C not only replacing the anomaly but shifting it to the Alpha Quadrant in direct line to Earth and Ni’Var. The USS Discovery, its crew and the delegates onboard raced through the Galactic Barrier to attempt diplomacy before the deaths of billions. When they breached the barrier, they discovered a solar system near where 10-C live. It soon becomes apparent that the 10-C used to live here, as the corpses of their species litter the surface. 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 – Anomaly – TV Review

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TL;DR – This week, we discover just how stuffed Discovery is this season.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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

Star Trek: Discovery - Anomaly. Image Credit: Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery Review –

There are many things that you can prepare for in life. But at any second, something entirely out of the realm of your understanding could snatch you away. As a species, we like to ignore it, even though we all kind of process that reality on any given day. Well, what happens if that something is a black hole five light-years across that likes to pummel planets into dust?

So to set the scene, at the end of Kobayashi Maru, disaster strikes when they save the space station crew. Still, while that is happening, the entire planet of Kwejian is obliterated, killing everyone and everything on the surface. This hits Book (David Ajala) the hardest because he had just started to reconnect with his family on Kwejian. Well, when you have an unknown anomaly, what is the first thing you do? Study it, which is what Discovery is sent to do before panic erupts across the galaxy. 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: That Hope is You, Part 2 & Season 3 – TV Review

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TL;DR – The series finale stuck the landing with heart and emotion

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: That Hope is You, Part 2. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

That Hope is You, Part 2 Review –

For more than we have seen in a while, this week’s episode had a lot to do with two competing storylines that had taken whole episodes to lay the groundwork. It was so much story that I wondered if they would have the chance to make it work, but they did. In today’s review, we will first look at the Season Finale That Hope is You, Part 2 and then we will look at more generally at the season as a whole.

So to set the scene, as we saw in Su’kal, Hugh (Wilson Cruz) and Saru (Doug Jones) are still stuck in the holographic program on the Dilithium Planet trying to reach Su’Kal (Bill Irwin) who has become petrified of the outside. While Adria (Blu del Barrio) was able to get them some more radiation medicine, but time is ticking down. Back on Discovery, Osyraa (Janet Kidder) has given up hope on an alliance with The Federation, and how wants to steal the ship and is happy to blast her way out of Federation HQ to do it. Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) are captive on the bridge, but in the heart of the ship, the Bridge Crew and the Spore Data (Annabelle Wallis) have joined together to take the ship back. 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 American Boys – Movie Review

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TL;DR – In this collection of short films, we get a snapshot of life, of stories untold, but nothing that really stands out.     

Rating: 3 out of 5.

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

The American Boys. Image Credit: NQV Media.

The American Boys Review –

One of the strengths of short films is their ability to give a concise snapshot into a world. You pick only a couple of characters and dive into their world and how it is shaped. While usually, you would release these films separately, you can also group them around a theme which is what the film we are looking at today did.   

The American Boys is a collection of six short films including These Things Take Time, Legend of Scotty Watts, Two Fish, You Can Play, I Think I’m Gay & Billy’s Blowjobs. All of these films look at different types of relationships, and as some of the titles would suggest, they look at the many different stages of gay relationships. Now because the film has grouped them as a whole, that is how we will look at them in this review.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Forget Me Not

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TL;DR – A beautiful episode about coming together through the pain of the past

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

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

Star Trek Discovery: Forget Me Not. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Forget Me Not Review –

Throughout Star Trek, there has been a long history of letting events happen, but to not really explore the aftermath. However, The Next Generation’s Family as well as, Deep Space Nine’s It’s Only a Paper Moon, both show that this can be some of the best the show can make. This week’s episode also knew this lesson and was the better for it.    

So to set the scene, so far this season, Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green) got trapped in the future alone for a year, the USS Discovery crash-landed on a planet with ice that eats you, and last week we found out that Earth had become an isolationist power and the Federation had left 100 years ago. All of this is leaving a toll on the crew because there has been no time to process what has happened to them appropriately. Things are starting to fray, which is understandable given the circumstances, but who will be the first to break. 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 – Star Trek Discovery: Red Angel

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TL;DR –  It starts on an emotional beat and stays there up until the very last moments.

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

Star Trek Discovery: Red Angel. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review –

From the very first episode this season Brother there has been one defining question this season “who is the Red Angel?” well tonight we find out and while I am sure someone out there picked it, I did not see it coming at all.

So to set the scene, we begin the episode where Project Daedalus left off, where Airiam (Hannah Cheesman) was killed to save Control getting access to the data she had downloaded. At the start of today’s episode her body is recovered, her memories deleted, and finally, a memorial service was held where people shared their fondest memories and Saru (Doug Jones) sang as her body was laid to rest. There is a real threat out there and we have to stop it but now Section 31’s Leland (Alan Van Sprang) and Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) are willing to let slip that the Red Angel suit was theirs, or at least it started off that way. It was built when a new time war was heating up with the Klingons a few years ago that ended when both sides destroyed each other’s work. Oh and just a small thing that in one of Airiam’s data files was the scan of the Red Angel and it matches Michael (Sonequa Martin-Green).   

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Chapter 2 and Season 1 Overview   

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TL;DR – We started with a group of people on a ship in space, and over the season, as adversity after adversity piled up, we ended with a crew. I mean I just wrote 1000 words just on the cast, the show is that good.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

The USS Discovery being all majestic and what. Image Credit: CBS Studios.

Review –

This year has been a strong year for Sci-Fi on TV we have Lost in Space, Altered Carbon, The Rain, as well as more Westworld, 3%, and The Expanse. In the middle of all this was a release, which for me was probably anticipated more than anything else, a new Star Trek series. Now the fact that I really like the Star Trek franchise should come as no surprise, indeed a wrote an article all about my love for Star Trek Deep Space Nine. However, there was also a lot of trepidation going in, since DS9 we had Voyager that had some great individual episodes but nothing really came together as a series, and Enterprise that took three seasons to find out what type of show it wanted to be and when it got there decided to end on just about the most insulting note that it could (yes I know it was not meant to be a series finale but still). However, I went into this thinking that I can at least give it a season, and boy what a season it was. So in the first season of Star Trek Discovery the broke it up into different chapters, we took a look at Chapter One here, and today we are going to take a look at Chapter Two which was the back half of the season but also some of the themes that transcend all of the season, you can also see all of our reviews for the individual episodes here. With this in mind, just a warning that we will be looking at the season as a whole, and as such there will be some major [SPOILERS] discussed in this review. So caution is advised if you have yet to finished Season One of Star Trek Discovery, and we would recommend you giving the first season a watch.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Vaulting Ambition

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TL;DR – Just when you think Star Trek Discovery is done surprising you, it pulls out an emotional punch followed by a 2 by 4 to the head

Score – 5 out of 5 stars

Vaulting Ambition

Review –

I have to take my hat off to the team over at Star Trek Discovery, tonight had a reveal that spent episodes building up, the reveal felt completely justified and not contrived, and I did not see it coming at all. That is such a difficult difficult task to pull off and make it feel natural, it was magnificent to watch. Now we will get into that a bit later when we can get into spoilers, but wow, this is one of the best episodes of Star Trek I have seen in a very long time.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: The Wolf Inside

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TL;DR – Trapped in the Mirror Universe, old friends appear, and secrets are revealed … oh and an Andorian

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

The Wolf Inside banner

Review –

So before we start, because this is Part 2 I want to be clear from the start that there will be [SPOILERS] from both last week’s Despite Yourself (see review) and this week’s The Wolf Inside in this review. As well as this, because there are some big reveals that we have to talk about, if you have not watched the episode can I really recommend that you do that before you read this review.

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TV Review – Star Trek Discovery: Into the Forest I Go

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TL;DR – The mid-season finale is both gut-wrenching and fascinating, both an ending and a new beginning.

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Into the forest I go

Review –

This week marks a couple of first for Star Trek as a franchise, it is the first time ever that we have had a mid-season finale, the end of Chapter One. As well as this, it is the first time that women’s nipples have ever been shown on screen, though men’s nipples have been fine since the days of The Original Series. Also, this week we get the first gay kiss between two men, indeed there are a lot of firsts. So today we are going to break down what worked in this final episode for a while, and I think it is a good sign that part of me kind of wishes we didn’t have to wait until January to see more.

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