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Star Trek: Keeping Up With the Cardassians


RumHam

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5 hours ago, Werthead said:

It's the 25th anniversary of Threshold, one of the worst episodes in Star Trek's entire history.

I don't think it's the worst-ever one, though. Spock's BrainCode of Honor and Up the Long Ladder are worse, as are the two Voyager "Irish holodeck" episodes. But it's definitely up there.

Shout-out to Lower Decks, who brought in some more Warp 10 Sex Newts and gave them the medical treatment they deserved, rather than mockery.

I will always have a soft spot for Up the Long Ladder because of the Klingon tea ceremony scene with Worf and Pulaski. Only a single short scene but better than much of early TNG drivel. If you haven't already, I recommend you watch the scene on YouTube with original Ron Jones score restored, as the originally aired episode lacks that particular cue (because Berman...)

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Been playing catch up on Discovery this week, since I lost my bet with my friend and have to watch the shows third season. I'm 6 episodes in and despite this show changing it's time and location, they really have not changed much. Michael Burnham is still treated like gods greatest gift to the universe and everyone else just blindly follows her. At least she was reprimanded in episode 6, for her insubordination, which was one of my favorite parts of the season. Shame too, since there are episodes, I've honestly liked, such as the Trill one, which I felt had a really strong and emotional story, I just would have liked it more if Michael wasn't involved in what was clearly a personal and emotional journey for Adira. I honestly think this show is scared to allow characters to stand on their own two feet without Michael's help.

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11 hours ago, Vaughn said:

'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' is the kind of episode where you're embarrassed for everyone acting in it for what the writers did to them.

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield isn't great, but it is one of the most famous TOS episodes because of how it tackled racism in a somewhat intelligent and subtle (by the standards of the mid-1960s) manner.

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I will always have a soft spot for Up the Long Ladder because of the Klingon tea ceremony scene with Worf and Pulaski. Only a single short scene but better than much of early TNG drivel. If you haven't already, I recommend you watch the scene on YouTube with original Ron Jones score restored, as the originally aired episode lacks that particular cue (because Berman...)

That's an okay scene but doesn't really make up for the rest of the episode being offensively racist to an almost staggering degree. Colm Meaney was furious with it, and not speaking out about it is something he regretted and was the #1 reason we didn't get a racist Irish episode on DS9, when he stormed into the producers' office and told them he wouldn't be acting against a fucking leprechaun (it was changed to Rumpelstiltskin in rewrites, but you can tell he's still thoroughly cheesed off about the situation).

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7 hours ago, Werthead said:

 

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield isn't great, but it is one of the most famous TOS episodes because of how it tackled racism in a somewhat intelligent and subtle (by the standards of the mid-1960s) manner.

That's an okay scene but doesn't really make up for the rest of the episode being offensively racist to an almost staggering degree. Colm Meaney was furious with it, and not speaking out about it is something he regretted and was the #1 reason we didn't get a racist Irish episode on DS9, when he stormed into the producers' office and told them he wouldn't be acting against a fucking leprechaun (it was changed to Rumpelstiltskin in rewrites, but you can tell he's still thoroughly cheesed off about the situation).

Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but what exactly is the problem with Leprechauns? Like they changed Aunt Jemima but I've never heard anyone complain about Lucky Charms. 

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1 hour ago, RumHam said:

Sorry if this is an ignorant question, but what exactly is the problem with Leprechauns? Like they changed Aunt Jemima but I've never heard anyone complain about Lucky Charms. 

American TV and film has this highly, horribly sanitised, cliched and idealised view of Ireland and Irish characters can barely show up without leprechauns being mentioned or appearing, or a bunch of happy peasants standing around drinking Guinness with a pig under each arm (this is a problem even today, somehow, with BS films like Wild Mountain Thyme). Meaney had already had to do that in Up the Long Ladder and didn't want to do it again and thought it offensive, twee and bullshit.

Meaney also had a secondary career appearing in much grittier, more realistic films about contemporary Ireland which were credited with reversing the family theme park view of Ireland in both the US and UK, and very much didn't want to be appearing in things reinforcing the bullshit view of Ireland.

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Just finished the two part episode Terra Firma. Not gona lie, I really liked this episode. I'd probably consider it Discovery's best episode and a large part of it, is Micheal Burnham not interfering with another characters growth and development. 

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13 hours ago, sifth said:

Just finished the two part episode Terra Firma. Not gona lie, I really liked this episode. I'd probably consider it Discovery's best episode and a large part of it, is Micheal Burnham not interfering with another characters growth and development. 

I thought it was actually a fun send-off for Georghiou, and a welcome distraction to the ongoing trolling about the Burn and sundry other red herrings. I don't get why the Mirror Universe world-building should be more compelling overall though...

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13 hours ago, Aemon Stark said:

I don't get why the Mirror Universe world-building should be more compelling overall though...

The opportunity for contrasts and the narrative opportunities that come from that, I think, are hugely interesting. Especially when you start getting cross-world movement and potential fish out of sea situations. 

(It's for this reason that I love the show 'Fringe'.)

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3 hours ago, IlyaP said:

The opportunity for contrasts and the narrative opportunities that come from that, I think, are hugely interesting. Especially when you start getting cross-world movement and potential fish out of sea situations. 

(It's for this reason that I love the show 'Fringe'.)

Have you watched "charlie Jade" and "counterpart"? They'd be up your street too. Counterpart is quite apt now given the alt world is one that had a pandemic. I still think that show was so unlucky timing wise - it'd probably quite popular if season one had aired in 2020.

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1 hour ago, red snow said:

Have you watched "charlie Jade" and "counterpart"? They'd be up your street too. Counterpart is quite apt now given the alt world is one that had a pandemic. I still think that show was so unlucky timing wise - it'd probably quite popular if season one had aired in 2020.

Heard of the latter but not the former, and now will have to absolutely check it out. I love me some multiverse narrative play! 

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On 1/29/2021 at 7:11 PM, Werthead said:

It's the 25th anniversary of Threshold, one of the worst episodes in Star Trek's entire history.

I don't think it's the worst-ever one, though. Spock's BrainCode of Honor and Up the Long Ladder are worse, as are the two Voyager "Irish holodeck" episodes. But it's definitely up there.

Shout-out to Lower Decks, who brought in some more Warp 10 Sex Newts and gave them the medical treatment they deserved, rather than mockery.

Let's not forget "Tuvix", which for the longest time was an episode I couldn't even discuss without cracking up.

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5 hours ago, red snow said:

Have you watched "charlie Jade" and "counterpart"? They'd be up your street too. Counterpart is quite apt now given the alt world is one that had a pandemic. I still think that show was so unlucky timing wise - it'd probably quite popular if season one had aired in 2020.

Counterpart is the best show to get almost no traction, I loved it and desperately wish we were getting more

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8 hours ago, TrackerNeil said:

Let's not forget "Tuvix", which for the longest time was an episode I couldn't even discuss without cracking up.

I love that episode. It’s so rare for Trek to hit upon a subject that’s genuinely difficult to answer, and it’s still a sore subject to bring up on r/StarTrek due to the arguments it sparks.

I’ve argued before that The Fight is way, way worse than Threshold. Threshold starts as a harmless let’s-try-and-go-fast episode, then pivots abruptly to a horror. If they’d just stuck with that it’d be an oddity, but for some bizarre reason they went with the lizard baby ending which is awful. But it’s basically a single scene where they show up, pan to a swamp and some lizard things. 

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38 minutes ago, DaveSumm said:

I love that episode. It’s so rare for Trek to hit upon a subject that’s genuinely difficult to answer, and it’s still a sore subject to bring up on r/StarTrek due to the arguments it sparks.

Absolutely outrageous decision by Janeway.

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11 hours ago, karaddin said:

Counterpart is the best show to get almost no traction, I loved it and desperately wish we were getting more

The previews I've watched have impressed me. It feels a bit like Fringe, but with its plot focus on politics and government rather than fringe science and police procedurals. It's definitely on my to-watch-soon list.

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9 hours ago, DaveSumm said:

I love that episode. It’s so rare for Trek to hit upon a subject that’s genuinely difficult to answer, and it’s still a sore subject to bring up on r/StarTrek due to the arguments it sparks.

I wish it had spared some time at the end to show how Neelix and Tuvok felt about the experience, and Janeway's choice. And it would have been more plausible if it was brought about by some alien device rather than a transporter accident caused by a plant.

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I am seeing people on FB saying they love Skin of Evil.  This really is the darkest timeline!  Or covid has given people brain damage.

I've started rewatching DS9..   Was going to skip most of season one but found myself skipping around instead, and ended up watching all episodes up to ep 15 except out of scene order.  I don't know why I found that more tolerable than sitting through it chronologically.  Only episode I refuse to watch is that horrid Move Along Home ep.

Pretty sure I missed seeing most of season 3 through 7 during my uni days, so those willed be watched for the first time instead of rewatched.

Edit:  ok, skipping this Rumpelstiltskin ep.  Lwaxana Troi? Skip you too.  Actually this whole latter half of the season is trying my patience.

Perhaps what helped me get through the first half is running it at 1.5x speed.  hmmmm.

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51 minutes ago, SpaceChampion said:

I am seeing people on FB saying they love Skin of Evil.  This really is the darkest timeline!  Or covid has given people brain damage..  Only episode I refuse to watch is that horrid Move Along Home ep.

"Worf becomes an Eco terrorist because he hates fun" is worse than Move Along Home. 

Skin of Evil was the first episode of Star Trek I paid attention to. My dad used to watch the show, I was probably six or seven. I remember watching parts of the episode with Lore and thinking "this is stupid. Why are there two of that guy." Then one night he was watching Skin of Evil and the blob creeped me out so I stayed and watched most of it. 

Not a great episode, but I don't know that I ever would have watched Star Trek without it. 

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