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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 8h

I stand corrected! Yeah, Tom has that exact little chest piece with the random dials. Someone in the the art department clearly did their homework!

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 8h

The actual plot is decent, but nothing groundbreaking. Mostly, though, this is just giving Nicole de Boer a chance to be Mirror Ezri, a role she plays with surprising understatement – no scenery chewing here. At least they made her gay, in the finest MU tradition.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 8h

DS9 S7E12, “The Emperor's New Cloak”: Quark and Rom must smuggle a cloaking device to the Mirror Universe. I think this might be our last MU episode? Not a spectacular note to end on. Rom lampshading that the MU makes no sense doesn't help. Honestly, they lost me at non-hologram Mirror Vic Fontaine.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 13h

VOY S5E12, “Bride of Chaotica!”: When photonic aliens confuse Tom's “Flash Gordon”-esque holodeck program for an invasion of their space, only Arachnia, Queen of the Spider People, can save the day. You know I love a good goofs episode, and this is no exception. Silly, absurd fun, with no pretense.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 15h

It's a rather poignant episode with a rather touching ending. The Doctor's inner conflict feels real, both something a Human doctor would struggle with and simultaneously a unique problem for a computer program to face. It's not “Measure of a Man”, but it's a well done episode.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 15h

VOY S5E11, “Latent Image”: When the Doctor realizes he's got a gap in his memories, Janeway must choose between the easy solution and the right one. This is our first AI Rights episode in a while, and it's interesting to see Janeway accept that she still holds biases against holographic life forms.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

DS9 S7E11, “Prodigal Daughter”: When Miles goes missing looking for a woman connected to the Orion Syndicate, Ezri has to go back to her fraught family home for help. This is a hard watch – they didn't exactly skimp on making Ezri's family a mess. It's a well told story, but not a fun one.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

Every line Data has in this movie is wrong. It's all bad comic relief. And I don't accept it as canon that Troi had never kissed Riker with the beard. They were friends with benefits whenever they were both single and we all know it. It's a bad movie! Why did they make it?

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

It's a bad movie. Of all the possible plots in the Trek universe, this is what they went with? The Fountain of Youth? And the worst part is, I don't even know what the titular insurrection was supposed to be! Was it just Self-Stolen Ship #8? That's not an insurrection! It's just a minor mutiny!

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

“Star Trek: Insurrection”: Okay, let's try to fit a plot summary for this mess into 300 characters: there's a planet that makes people young, and there are these bad aliens who want to steal the particles that make it work, and the Federation has decided to help the bad aliens, so the crew… I'm out.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

I really love that Vic has a selfish streak to him that Ezri has to nudge him on. This is DS9, where even the holograms get depth of character. And I like that Nog is a jackass for most of this one too. The whole thing feels very real, which is funny as it mostly takes place in a holosuite.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

DS9 S7E10, “It's Only a Paper Moon”: Nog tries to recover from his trauma with Vic Fontaine in 1960s Vegas. A great story, slightly limited by the need to fit it into 44 minutes, but it doesn't feel siloed off like VOY “Extreme Risk” – it feels like Nog will keep recovering after the end credits.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 1d

VOY S5E10, “Counterpoint”: Voyager attempts to smuggle telepathic refugees through a virulently anti-telepath empire. This episode certainly has a lot going for it – notably the complex chemistry between Janeway and Kashyk – but the ending is way too easy. It's frustrating, cause it is a good story.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

VOY S5E7, “Infinite Regress”: Seven starts getting taken over by personalities of other people assimilated by the Borg. A fast paced episode that let Jeri Ryan have some fun with it. It's kinda funny to imagine her watching DS9 episodes to learn about Ferengi. I wonder which they chose for her?

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

I can see the utility of the episode: we haven't seen Dukat since the beginning of the season, he (and his relationship with the Pah-Wraiths) is going to be really important at the end of the season, so let's put in a mid-season reminder of what his whole deal is. But it doesn't make for great TV.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

DS9 S7E9, “Covenant”: Kira is abducted by Dukat, who now leads the Cult of the Pah-Wraiths. I like that Dukat is both clearly a changed man and also 1000% back on his usual bullshit. It feels right for him. But this episode mostly feels like an unnecessary cul-de-sac in Dukat's story.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

It is a bit weird that this happens now, in the fifth year of Tom's character arc; it sort of works, but it feels off. Also, B'Elanna is oddly absent from most of it, which is an odd choice. You can feel that the “Tom in the brig” element was tacked on to pad the episode. Still, it's a decent story.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

VOY S5E9, “Thirty Days”: Tom gets a spell in the brig after taking up ecoterrorism. Not sure if this counts as a Thing That Won't Get You Kicked Out Of Starfleet, given that he actually did get real consequences and might well have been kicked out if Voyager were back home.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

DS9 S7E8, “The Siege of AR-558”: Sisko and crew join a group of demoralized soldiers on the front line. I think this is the only true ground war episode of the entire franchise. It's a grim episode, but it has a lot to say, and it says it all too well.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 2d

DS9 S7E7, “Once More Unto the Breach”*: Kor, the aging Klingon Dahar Master, seeks Worf's help to join the war after being frozen out by Martok, who hates him. A worthy sendoff for the last of the TOS-era Klingons, if a bit predictable.

* the title sounds better in the original Klingon, of course

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

That said, it's certainly true that the B-plot, which is a goofy Nog dealmaking story on the lines of “In the Cards” and “Progress”, is a lot more fun. But the A-plot reveals a lot of really game-changing information, most notably the existence of the disease that's killing the Great Link.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

DS9 S7E6, “Treachery, Faith, and the Great River”: One of the Weyoun clones tries to defect to Odo; meanwhile, Nog helps O'Brien get a needed part for the Defiant. This looks like A/B plot dissonance, but, as the title implies, faith is the through-line connecting them both.

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

All of that said… the a capella solfège scene slaps. I'm going to have “do re mi / do re mi / fa re mi do” stuck in my head for a week. Also, the “that's a stupid question” bit is kinda funny. The rest of the episode can get all the way in the bin.

flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

The show does give him some brief moments of realization that he's the villain of the piece, but nowhere near the level he deserves. He initiates every step of their relationship! It's all him! She was cataleptic for her entire life and he's planting smooches on her in her first week post treatment!

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flying ghoti @flyingghoti.bsky.social · 3d

DS9 S7E5, “Chrysalis”: Julian cures one of the genetically engineered patients from “Statistical Improbabilities” and then immediately initiates a romantic relationship with her. This is, in my book, the worst thing he's ever done, and maybe the worst breach of medical ethics in the franchise.

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