Star Trek: Picard "Vox" Review (Spoilers)
Apr. 13th, 2023 06:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_zimmerAlso reviews for the latest episodes of The Mandalorian, Superman & Lois, Gotham Knights, Titans, Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur, and Night Court.
Star Trek: Picard "Vox"
This is now officially my favorite Star Trek series. It just surpassed Deep Space Nine. Unless next week majorly whiffs it, it's a done deal.
That ending. Oh, MY GOD. While Discovery is busy beating around the bush by wasting a great premise, and Strange New Worlds is playing it safe, this show stealthily decided the best thing to do was essentially give Star Trek fans everything they ever wanted for Christmas.
Hated Generations? Hated Nemesis? Here, this show completely undoes the worst things about them. My God, I can't get over that.
And Shaw calling her Seven Of Nine as he died moved me in ways I could not have predicted. And it isn't a surprise he did that when he died. It's the right narrative move. But the show has value for taking a predictable-seeming moment and playing the drama to the hilt anyways. I don't feel remotely let down for that reason.
As for the Borg reveal, I have found there is no crisis Starfleet can endure in which the Borg randomly showing up can't make things a thousand times worse. I'm a little confused because I had thought Agnes as the Borg Queen had reformed the Borg and petitioned them to enter Starfleet. But Alice Krige being the voice in Jack's head proves something we've seen time and again. As far as a Collective goes, there always appears to be more than one faction in play. For a unifying hivemind, there are a startling number of Borg with different opinions (looks in Jack's direction).
Shelby shows up which is great. She is killed, which is better. I was waiting 40 years for that. Remember how much we hated that character back in the day? God, this show gives us what we want.
And they used AI to mimic Majel Barret's Computer Voice. I think AI is a bad thing in general actually, and I think Hollywood will soon be in decline because of it. But having the classic computer voice shows a real selling point to it.
I love Worf tackily saying he prefers the weapons systems on the Enterprise E. Get a filter, you Klingon lunkhead. Still a work in progress. By the way, we never got clarification as to WHY the E was destroyed (it seemed salvageable at the end of Nemesis) so its actual fate and destruction most likely occurred later on in an unseen adventure. And yes, Worf, I am VERY likely to believe whatever happened WAS your fault. As long as we have both decided to be tacky.
Currently, this is my favorite Star Trek series of all time, with only one episode to go. If the series finale sucks ass, DS9 will retake the title. But I don't think it will. But it begs the question what I would expect from a great finale.
I want a SLEW of cameos from the 24th Century Berman-era series. Like a ridiculous amount. Not only free the real Tuvok, but get everybody possible outside of Sisko and Janeway. Just go bananas. But most importantly, based on Beverly's heartbreak here, I want Wesley to show up, and tell his Mom he's doing all right. We thought his cameo at the end of last season was cool. But he broke his damn mother's heart. What a wiener. Would it kill him to drop by on legal Holidays?
I want the episode to be extra long. An hour and fifteen minutes would be acceptable, but I'd prefer an hour and half. We'll see how it goes.
I want the final episode EVER to be TV-14 and NOT TV-MA. NONE of this season should have had that rating, but the damn finale had better not.
Finally, I want the entire cast to survive and the Enterprise D to NOT be destroyed. This is actually NOT an unreasonable demand considering how badly received Generations and Nemesis were. I don't think the producers of this show are gonna do us dirty. But that is one of my demands. Kill Raffi or Jack if you gotta kill someone. But leave the Next Gen crew, the Enterprise, and Seven Of Nine the hell alone.
Everything else? Ball's in their court. I trust the producers to do right for the crew on their final mission and the freaking Enterprise-D!
One last thing I want to say to this show's (MANY) detractors. Who at each point the series did something not perfect, jumped down this series' throat and lumped it into the mess that is Discovery, and part of the problems of the Kurtzman. era And I want to say this as a person always talking up how great this show is while they were nitpicking things to death. And I'm going to say this very loudly, and I hope those people feel the proper embarrassment for me saying it: I TOLD YOU SO. THIS ENTIRE TIME. I TOLD YOU SO. I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG. That's not the only occasion this has happened, but few other projects have given me as detailed receipts for proof of that opinion as this episode just did. You could have gone along enjoying a great Star Trek series as it went on instead of distancing yourself from it. I feel the same secret sense of joy and discovery I did as I was watching and loving Deep Space Nine over the air while the rest of the fandom turned up its nose at it. And what do you know? Deep Space Nine is the only one of the first five Star Trek series that doesn't feel completely dated decades later. I suspect similar amazed judgments will be rendered in Star Trek: Picard's future 25 years from now too.
Best Star Trek ever! Let's hope for the best finale ever! Make it so! *****.
The Mandalorian "Chapter 23: The Spies"
Dire happenings. Those red guys at the end freaked me the hell out.
I loved Din's affirmation to Bo about why he followed her. That was the heart of the episode to me.
Din isn't so hot on Grogu's new Droid suit, and frankly I'm not crazy about it either.
Huge epic battle at the end, and as I said, the cliffhanger and threat to the good guys is dire. It's interesting that in this franchise, Gideon excepted, the bad guys wear White.
Big episode. ****1/2.
Superman & Lois "Head On"
I liked most of it. And the things I didn't like (like Lana wanting to dig up dirt on Dean posthumously) worked out by the end. Apparently, the things I didn't like were things the writers didn't like either.
The scene with Clark in the waiting room with the women undergoing chemo is basically the reason I watch television. Great drama has its place, but GOOD drama? One that hits all the sweet spots of The Feels and The Big Hurt? A much rarer pleasure. And this show has value because it delivers it often enough for me to be pretty sure it knows what it's doing there, and is not just pulling random bad crap and confusing tragedy for drama. Lois' cancer arc could have easily turned into that (it's called misery porn). But her telling Clark at the end that she wanted his opinion, especially if he disagreed with her was just a beautiful bit of maturity for a couple of fictional characters allowed to treat each other well and behave like adults.
I have to say Lois' plan to go undercover at the hospital to dig up dirt on Manheim is harebrained. Not necessarily because it's dangerous (I take Manheim claiming he'll help her get better at face value) but because a cancer ward is the precise type of legit business Manheim runs that would have zero damning evidence on the premises. I don't think Lois necessarily understood everything he told her about the facility was likely true, but I think that's her white privilege more than anything else. I think the difference between her and Clark is that Clark has enough awareness to understand where Manheim is coming from when he talks about class struggles.
I was a little miffed at Mateo for the kiss myself, and I think it WAS a little too forward, but I love Nat talking out the problem with Sam. And she tells him he wouldn't understand. And he says that probably true but that he still wants to try. And lo and behold there is some common ground there after all. I'm not looking forward to Sam using a senior dating app and meeting a new gal pal, but I thought how he related to Nat there was very sweet, as was her calling him "Grandpa."
That fight with the villain was both brutal and clever. We saw things in it we don't usually see in TV fights. It was creatively done.
I value this show. ****1/2.
Gotham Knights "More Money, More Problems"
I like that Carrie has a good mom. That's nice.
Good origin for the Gotham Knights label.
Harvey's stuff is interesting, particularly the ending. The stuff about his father was well done.
Dr. Chase Meridian? Weird Batman character to call back, but she DID treat Harvey (terribly and incompetently, I might add) in Batman Forever.
Pretty good. Will never be confused for great television, but the freak-out over the show before it premiered was premature. There are a LOT worse current DC shows deserving of shade. ***1/2.
Titans "Caul's Folly"
I was bored with this. It didn't help that I saw the latest amazing episode of Star Trek Picard before this either. It was bad, but that probably made it seem worse than it was in comparison.
I don't think much of Dick for getting taken down by three Podunk sheriff / deputies. While we are keeping score as to why Dick sucks so much.
Ugh. *1/2.
Titans "Dick & Carol & Ted & Kory"
This show is pretty much impossible to like. Any time it does something remotely resembling decency, it soon goes 10 times harder in the other direction of nihilism and despair. Still the worst DC TV show to ever exist, and probably the worst DC project in general too. And the messed up thing is that compared to the rest of the series, the episode is merely mediocre. Fans of this show would probably find it tolerable, which just blows my freaking mind. *.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "Devil On Her Shoulder"
Oh, my. That ending of Devil befriending Torg was SO freaking nice. Is it too much to ask TV to be nice? Even kids shows rarely do it. I appreciate it when it happens.
I love that Lunella's first angry note upon first seeing a shrunken Devil is to admit he's adorable. It is the most noticeable thing about him, not the actual size, so not immediately pointing it out would have been weird.
This is the best Marvel cartoon since Wolverine And The X-Men. I will go further. It's the only GREAT Marvel cartoon besides Wolverine And The X-Men. Even GOOD cartoons like X-Men: The Animated Series had notable faults. But this show is pretty special. ****1/2.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "Coney Island, Baby!"
Oh, well that ending was unsettling.
I love that Lunella seems to legitimately loathe the Beyonder. Probably more than he even deserves. Which is why I love her loathing him so much. Lunella having THAT strong of a negative value judgment against him says volumes.
They were really leaning into the Grinchy aspects of that design including a full-on homage to the infamous Chuck Jones Wonderful Awful Idea smile.
Pretty good. ****.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "OMG Issue No. 1"
OMG is right.
Action, pathos, revelations, this episode has it all. I can also pretty much declare this the best Marvel cartoon now. Even Wolverine And The X-Men never hit these highs.
They sure as hell didn't NEED to get Cobie Smulders to play Maria Hill. But it's cool they did.
If anything Wesley Snipes is an even bigger and more impressive get. He's certainly a Marvel legacy. And the first black Marvel Superhero in film.
Mimi being Original Moon Girl is not a surprise, but her knowing what she does sort of is. I'm pretty sure her always having known Lunella was Moon Girl tracks (she's said some suspiciously knowing things in the past) but her behavior in this episode defies that idea. If she always knew, and was always OMG, she would have tried putting a stop to it long ago.
That killed me dead. *****.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "OMG Issue No. 2"
It's possible Morlock could have repented before this. But it's interesting that he believed it was too late instead.
Shocking and unexpected cliffhanger. Did not expect the episode to leave off there. If anything, I expected Mimi to be the one trapped in another dimension, not Current Moon Girl herself. The wait for the next batch of episodes will be murder.
Wow! ****1/2.
Night Court "Past Apps"
I thought it was interesting, which is nice.
I liked that Dan was right, but he was right for the wrong reasons. And Abby was wrong for the right ones. I don't understand why Abby didn't talk to the guy privately and made a huge public spectacle instead. I understand fictional characters have extra stupidity built into them to keep the plot going, but really, is she an adult or not?
What are they doing with Neil? It's a mess and a bad mess. I don't approve.
But like I said, it was interesting. ***1/2.
Star Trek: Picard "Vox"
This is now officially my favorite Star Trek series. It just surpassed Deep Space Nine. Unless next week majorly whiffs it, it's a done deal.
That ending. Oh, MY GOD. While Discovery is busy beating around the bush by wasting a great premise, and Strange New Worlds is playing it safe, this show stealthily decided the best thing to do was essentially give Star Trek fans everything they ever wanted for Christmas.
Hated Generations? Hated Nemesis? Here, this show completely undoes the worst things about them. My God, I can't get over that.
And Shaw calling her Seven Of Nine as he died moved me in ways I could not have predicted. And it isn't a surprise he did that when he died. It's the right narrative move. But the show has value for taking a predictable-seeming moment and playing the drama to the hilt anyways. I don't feel remotely let down for that reason.
As for the Borg reveal, I have found there is no crisis Starfleet can endure in which the Borg randomly showing up can't make things a thousand times worse. I'm a little confused because I had thought Agnes as the Borg Queen had reformed the Borg and petitioned them to enter Starfleet. But Alice Krige being the voice in Jack's head proves something we've seen time and again. As far as a Collective goes, there always appears to be more than one faction in play. For a unifying hivemind, there are a startling number of Borg with different opinions (looks in Jack's direction).
Shelby shows up which is great. She is killed, which is better. I was waiting 40 years for that. Remember how much we hated that character back in the day? God, this show gives us what we want.
And they used AI to mimic Majel Barret's Computer Voice. I think AI is a bad thing in general actually, and I think Hollywood will soon be in decline because of it. But having the classic computer voice shows a real selling point to it.
I love Worf tackily saying he prefers the weapons systems on the Enterprise E. Get a filter, you Klingon lunkhead. Still a work in progress. By the way, we never got clarification as to WHY the E was destroyed (it seemed salvageable at the end of Nemesis) so its actual fate and destruction most likely occurred later on in an unseen adventure. And yes, Worf, I am VERY likely to believe whatever happened WAS your fault. As long as we have both decided to be tacky.
Currently, this is my favorite Star Trek series of all time, with only one episode to go. If the series finale sucks ass, DS9 will retake the title. But I don't think it will. But it begs the question what I would expect from a great finale.
I want a SLEW of cameos from the 24th Century Berman-era series. Like a ridiculous amount. Not only free the real Tuvok, but get everybody possible outside of Sisko and Janeway. Just go bananas. But most importantly, based on Beverly's heartbreak here, I want Wesley to show up, and tell his Mom he's doing all right. We thought his cameo at the end of last season was cool. But he broke his damn mother's heart. What a wiener. Would it kill him to drop by on legal Holidays?
I want the episode to be extra long. An hour and fifteen minutes would be acceptable, but I'd prefer an hour and half. We'll see how it goes.
I want the final episode EVER to be TV-14 and NOT TV-MA. NONE of this season should have had that rating, but the damn finale had better not.
Finally, I want the entire cast to survive and the Enterprise D to NOT be destroyed. This is actually NOT an unreasonable demand considering how badly received Generations and Nemesis were. I don't think the producers of this show are gonna do us dirty. But that is one of my demands. Kill Raffi or Jack if you gotta kill someone. But leave the Next Gen crew, the Enterprise, and Seven Of Nine the hell alone.
Everything else? Ball's in their court. I trust the producers to do right for the crew on their final mission and the freaking Enterprise-D!
One last thing I want to say to this show's (MANY) detractors. Who at each point the series did something not perfect, jumped down this series' throat and lumped it into the mess that is Discovery, and part of the problems of the Kurtzman. era And I want to say this as a person always talking up how great this show is while they were nitpicking things to death. And I'm going to say this very loudly, and I hope those people feel the proper embarrassment for me saying it: I TOLD YOU SO. THIS ENTIRE TIME. I TOLD YOU SO. I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG. That's not the only occasion this has happened, but few other projects have given me as detailed receipts for proof of that opinion as this episode just did. You could have gone along enjoying a great Star Trek series as it went on instead of distancing yourself from it. I feel the same secret sense of joy and discovery I did as I was watching and loving Deep Space Nine over the air while the rest of the fandom turned up its nose at it. And what do you know? Deep Space Nine is the only one of the first five Star Trek series that doesn't feel completely dated decades later. I suspect similar amazed judgments will be rendered in Star Trek: Picard's future 25 years from now too.
Best Star Trek ever! Let's hope for the best finale ever! Make it so! *****.
The Mandalorian "Chapter 23: The Spies"
Dire happenings. Those red guys at the end freaked me the hell out.
I loved Din's affirmation to Bo about why he followed her. That was the heart of the episode to me.
Din isn't so hot on Grogu's new Droid suit, and frankly I'm not crazy about it either.
Huge epic battle at the end, and as I said, the cliffhanger and threat to the good guys is dire. It's interesting that in this franchise, Gideon excepted, the bad guys wear White.
Big episode. ****1/2.
Superman & Lois "Head On"
I liked most of it. And the things I didn't like (like Lana wanting to dig up dirt on Dean posthumously) worked out by the end. Apparently, the things I didn't like were things the writers didn't like either.
The scene with Clark in the waiting room with the women undergoing chemo is basically the reason I watch television. Great drama has its place, but GOOD drama? One that hits all the sweet spots of The Feels and The Big Hurt? A much rarer pleasure. And this show has value because it delivers it often enough for me to be pretty sure it knows what it's doing there, and is not just pulling random bad crap and confusing tragedy for drama. Lois' cancer arc could have easily turned into that (it's called misery porn). But her telling Clark at the end that she wanted his opinion, especially if he disagreed with her was just a beautiful bit of maturity for a couple of fictional characters allowed to treat each other well and behave like adults.
I have to say Lois' plan to go undercover at the hospital to dig up dirt on Manheim is harebrained. Not necessarily because it's dangerous (I take Manheim claiming he'll help her get better at face value) but because a cancer ward is the precise type of legit business Manheim runs that would have zero damning evidence on the premises. I don't think Lois necessarily understood everything he told her about the facility was likely true, but I think that's her white privilege more than anything else. I think the difference between her and Clark is that Clark has enough awareness to understand where Manheim is coming from when he talks about class struggles.
I was a little miffed at Mateo for the kiss myself, and I think it WAS a little too forward, but I love Nat talking out the problem with Sam. And she tells him he wouldn't understand. And he says that probably true but that he still wants to try. And lo and behold there is some common ground there after all. I'm not looking forward to Sam using a senior dating app and meeting a new gal pal, but I thought how he related to Nat there was very sweet, as was her calling him "Grandpa."
That fight with the villain was both brutal and clever. We saw things in it we don't usually see in TV fights. It was creatively done.
I value this show. ****1/2.
Gotham Knights "More Money, More Problems"
I like that Carrie has a good mom. That's nice.
Good origin for the Gotham Knights label.
Harvey's stuff is interesting, particularly the ending. The stuff about his father was well done.
Dr. Chase Meridian? Weird Batman character to call back, but she DID treat Harvey (terribly and incompetently, I might add) in Batman Forever.
Pretty good. Will never be confused for great television, but the freak-out over the show before it premiered was premature. There are a LOT worse current DC shows deserving of shade. ***1/2.
Titans "Caul's Folly"
I was bored with this. It didn't help that I saw the latest amazing episode of Star Trek Picard before this either. It was bad, but that probably made it seem worse than it was in comparison.
I don't think much of Dick for getting taken down by three Podunk sheriff / deputies. While we are keeping score as to why Dick sucks so much.
Ugh. *1/2.
Titans "Dick & Carol & Ted & Kory"
This show is pretty much impossible to like. Any time it does something remotely resembling decency, it soon goes 10 times harder in the other direction of nihilism and despair. Still the worst DC TV show to ever exist, and probably the worst DC project in general too. And the messed up thing is that compared to the rest of the series, the episode is merely mediocre. Fans of this show would probably find it tolerable, which just blows my freaking mind. *.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "Devil On Her Shoulder"
Oh, my. That ending of Devil befriending Torg was SO freaking nice. Is it too much to ask TV to be nice? Even kids shows rarely do it. I appreciate it when it happens.
I love that Lunella's first angry note upon first seeing a shrunken Devil is to admit he's adorable. It is the most noticeable thing about him, not the actual size, so not immediately pointing it out would have been weird.
This is the best Marvel cartoon since Wolverine And The X-Men. I will go further. It's the only GREAT Marvel cartoon besides Wolverine And The X-Men. Even GOOD cartoons like X-Men: The Animated Series had notable faults. But this show is pretty special. ****1/2.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "Coney Island, Baby!"
Oh, well that ending was unsettling.
I love that Lunella seems to legitimately loathe the Beyonder. Probably more than he even deserves. Which is why I love her loathing him so much. Lunella having THAT strong of a negative value judgment against him says volumes.
They were really leaning into the Grinchy aspects of that design including a full-on homage to the infamous Chuck Jones Wonderful Awful Idea smile.
Pretty good. ****.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "OMG Issue No. 1"
OMG is right.
Action, pathos, revelations, this episode has it all. I can also pretty much declare this the best Marvel cartoon now. Even Wolverine And The X-Men never hit these highs.
They sure as hell didn't NEED to get Cobie Smulders to play Maria Hill. But it's cool they did.
If anything Wesley Snipes is an even bigger and more impressive get. He's certainly a Marvel legacy. And the first black Marvel Superhero in film.
Mimi being Original Moon Girl is not a surprise, but her knowing what she does sort of is. I'm pretty sure her always having known Lunella was Moon Girl tracks (she's said some suspiciously knowing things in the past) but her behavior in this episode defies that idea. If she always knew, and was always OMG, she would have tried putting a stop to it long ago.
That killed me dead. *****.
Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur "OMG Issue No. 2"
It's possible Morlock could have repented before this. But it's interesting that he believed it was too late instead.
Shocking and unexpected cliffhanger. Did not expect the episode to leave off there. If anything, I expected Mimi to be the one trapped in another dimension, not Current Moon Girl herself. The wait for the next batch of episodes will be murder.
Wow! ****1/2.
Night Court "Past Apps"
I thought it was interesting, which is nice.
I liked that Dan was right, but he was right for the wrong reasons. And Abby was wrong for the right ones. I don't understand why Abby didn't talk to the guy privately and made a huge public spectacle instead. I understand fictional characters have extra stupidity built into them to keep the plot going, but really, is she an adult or not?
What are they doing with Neil? It's a mess and a bad mess. I don't approve.
But like I said, it was interesting. ***1/2.
