Category: Star Trek

Posted in Rewatch, Star Trek, Television shows, tv reviews

The Rewatch 214: Starship Mine

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG Episode: 6.18 Starship Mine (3/29/1993 Rating: 4/5 Redshirt Status: 8/11/46

Notable Guest Stars:

Tim Russ (Devor) – Tim Russ will become better known to you all when we get to Voyager. He plays one of the main characters, Tuvok. More recently he has appeared on Orville, a Star Trek homage.

Marie Marshall (Kelsey)- Marshall has guest starred in several shows over the years, including The Pretender, Babylon 5 and Silk Stockings. The latter two were ongoing roles in the production. She also worked on As the World Turns, playing Denise Darcy for two years in the mid Eighties.

David Spielberg (Commander Calvin “Hutch” Hutchinson) – To be honest, I haven’t seen much of what he has been in, but he had a big part in this episode, so it felt wrong to exclude him. I have heard of The Practice, so I’ll point that one out.

Glenn Morshower (Orton)- He has been on quite a few of my favorite TV shows over the years. He had a recurring role on CSI Miami, X-men First Class, JAG, X-files, West Wing and Criminal Minds. He also appears on Voyager and Enterprise. However his most known credit is apparently the show 24, which I have never seen.

Tom Nibley (Neil)- Nibley had a short career in acting, mostly in the late 80s and 90s. He has appeared on some shows I have seen, including Days of Our Lives and The Golden Girls. His last credited role (according to IMDB) was in 1998.

Patricia Tallman (Kiros) – She is known for her roles on Babylon 5, Night of the Living Dead (1990), and several Star Trek shows. She has appeared both as an actress and as a stunt performer. She performed Laura Dern’s stunts in Jurassic Park. She also owns her own Adventure corporation called Quest Retreats.

Tim de Zarn (Satler) – He has appeared on several TV series I have watched growing up, including Dr. Quinn, Criminal Minds, Cold Case, and of course a few episodes of Star Trek. He also appears in the 2002 film Spiderman (my first exposure to Spiderman) playing Mary Jane’s father. Recently he guested on Better Call Saul.

Review:

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The Rewatch 214: The Nagus

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
Episode: 1:11 The Nagus (0215/1993)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1

Notable Guest Stars:
Max Grodenchik (Rom) – Grodenchik has played several Ferengi characters over the years, but his most lasting and most known role is that of Rom, Quark’s brother.

Aron Eisenberg (Nog) – Aron Eisenberg makes his first appearance as Rom’s son Nog in this episode.  Nog has one of the best storylines in the series, so pay attention to this character (and actor)

Wallace Shawn (Grand Nagus Zek) – Wallace Shawn of “Never fight with a Sicilian When Death is on the line!” fame has been one of my favorite guest actors.  I love him as Zek, and I also loved his roles in the aforementioned Princess Bride,  as well as Clueless and Crossing Jordan where he plays the titular character’s therapist for a few seasons.

Lee Arenberg (Gral) – Lee Arenberg more recently might recongised as Grumpy, from Once Upon a Time and as a member of Black Pearl’s crew in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Lou Wagner (Krax) – Lou Wagner has already graced our screen as Daimon Solok.

Barry Gordon (Nava)- Gordon was a actor, Talk show host, and SAG president from 1988-1995 (which would mean as this episode was made and aired).  He also did voice acting, and therefore part of my first fandom obsession:  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  He did the voice of Donatello.  He has been acting since he was three years old and continues to be active in the field.

Tiny Ron Taylor (Maihar’du) – Taylor will also appear on Star Trek Voyager.  He tends to be typecast due to his very tall height of 7 feet.  He was also a professional basketball player, even playing on the rarely known Pittsburgh Condors.  Well, that may be because they only lasted about five years.  Unfortunately, he died in 2019.

Review:

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The Rewatch 213: Move Along Home

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
Episode: 1:10 Move Along Home (0215/1993)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1

Notable Guest Stars:
Joel Brooks (Farew) – Brooks is a long-time character actor. He has appeared in many series over the years in quite a variety of characters. Some shows that I have watched with him in it include Sabrina: The Teenage Witch, and M*A*S*H. He now splits his time acting with teaching acting classes.
Clara Bryant (Chandra) – Bryant was a child actress who at 24 decided to retire from acting and became a Lawyer. She did make a series of appearances on Buffy The Vampire Slayer from 2002-03. He last film was the Syfy film Bone Eater with Bruce Boxleitner as the lead.

Review:

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The Rewatch 212: Birthright (1 & 2)

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 6.16 Birthright (03/07/1993) & 6:17 Birthright Part II (3/14/1993)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/3/38

Notable Guest Stars:
Siddig El Fadil/Alexander Siddig (Julian Bashir) – This episode crosses over with DS9 slightly and brings Julian on to show the interconnection of the two shows existing together. At this point in time he was still being credited with his actual name of Siddig El Fadil.

James Cromwell (Jaglom Shrek)- James Cromwell is one of my favorite actors. He’s well known in Star Trek, having appeared several times over the years in various franchise roles. His most reoccuring role is that of Zephram Cochran, which he would play in a few years. He is under heavy make-up for this episode though, but that distinctive voice carries through.

Cristine Rose (Gi’ral) – Cristine Rose is most known for her role on series Heroes, where she played Angela Petrelli. She has also appeared on Friends, NCIS, Chicago Hope, Crossing Jordan, and Gilmore Girls.

Jennifer Gatti (Ba’el)- She is known for her work in soap operas, including Guiding Light and Young and The Restless. She has appeared on several shows as a guest actor, including Voyager, ER and Cheers. In 2019 she appeared on the newer medical drama The Resident.

Richard Herd (L’Kor)- He might sound familiar because he will appear several times on Star Trek Voyager as Admiral Owen Paris – father of Lt. Tom Paris. He also appeared in Seinfeld, Quantum Leap, and JAG among many others. He has been inducted into the National Broadcast Hall of Fame for his radio work. Unfortunately, he died of cancer in 2020.

Alan Scarfe (Tokath) – Alan Scarfe has appeared on TNG before, but he has also appeared on my favorite Scifi series Stargate Atlantis, and another good series called Andromeda. He has won several awards for both film work and stage work.


Review:

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The Rewatch 211: Passenger

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
Episode:  1.09 Passenger (02/22/1993)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1 (There are some dubious stunning’s but I like to think everyone lived)

Notable Guest Stars:
Caitlin Brown (Ty Kajada)- She appeared in Babylon Five, which is often compared to DS9. She also appeared in TNG, starred the horror film All about Evil.

James Lashly (Lt. George Primmin)- Lashly appears in so many of the shows I watched growing up yet I really never noticed him which I now need to fix.  He appeared on Gilmore Girls, Bones, Charmed, Judging Amy, Wild Wild West, ER, Pretender, and also TNG (3 years prior).

Christopher Colins (Durg) – Colins has a long voice acting filmography, including being the Cobra Commander on GI Joe, and the original Mr. Burns (exxxxelllant).  Unfortunately, he died from a hemorrhage in 1994, a little over a year after this episode aired.

James Harper (The Original Rao Vantika)- He was in the 1998 hit film Armageddon and has been known for being the voice of Arcturus Mengsk on StarCraft video games.  He also did a spin on General Hospital in the late 2000s.

Review:

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The Rewatch 210: Tapestry

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 6.15 Tapestry (2/15/1993)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/3/38 

Notable Guest Stars:
Ned Vaughn (Cortin Zweller) – Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that Apollo 13 has been my favorite movie since it came out in 1994.  Ned Vaughn appears in the movie as CapCom 2.

J.C Brandy (Marta Batanides)- J.C. Brandy has appeared in various tv series over the years, including a couple soap operas.  She also made an appearance in the Halloween film franchise.  She was 17 years old when she filmed this episode.

Clive Church (Maurice Picard) – This appears to be his first -and only – known credit.  Which was notable enough for me to include him in this section.

Rae Norman (Penny Muroc)- Rae Norman was appearing on Guiding Light around the same time she was on Star Trek.

Review:

I have to admit this is not one of my favorite episodes of TNG.  Every show has their “It’s a Wonderful Life” episode, it seems, and this was TNG’s.  Picard, having received a near-fatal wound, finds himself in a space with Q.  Q uses his powers to show Picard what might have happened if he hadn’t been stabbed by the Nausiccaans, a story mentioned earlier in the show.

My problem was most IAWL like episodes show the effect someone has on other people, not just their own life. And Picard had a deep impact on the other characters.  For example, there is a scene where Altered Picard talks with Will Riker.  Will is still the executive officer even though its been pretty much implied that the main reason he hasn’t taken a ship of his own is because he wanted ot learn more from Picard. I find it hard to believe that Will would still be on Enterprise and not on his own ship.  And, what does this mean for Jack Crusher? 

Of course, this could all be explained away as being part of Q’s made-up world.

There is also the weirdness of the Marta romance.  For one, they never really made Picard out to have been a lothario till this episode.  And the actress for Marta was 17 years old. While neither actor seemed to find anything amiss, the fact that the crew thought she needed to be aged up by make-up makes me wonder why they didn’t hire an older actress.

This episode did launch a thousand memes of Picard waking up to Q in his bed. 

This episode is usually critically accepted as good, and while I may not particularly feel driven to watch it, I don’t think it’s the worst episode ever. (You have seen me skip episodes so you know that). 

Interesting Notes:

  • Written by Ronald D. Moore
  • Directed by Les Landau
  • This episode was inspired by “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens.
  • The brainstorming team liked this episode as a comparison to Picard’s wild child youth and studious adulthood while Kirk was a studious young man and only earned his reputation as a risk taker as an adult (and as a Captain).
  • First appearance of the Nausicaans

Pros

  • I wonder if they realize that they made Q appear pansexual at this point. I mean it would make sense for an energy being such as the Q continuum not to limit their interests by gender.

Cons:

  • I feel the story seems a little farfetched as far as it not effecting other people that where Jean-Luc was in life was different.  Our lives are ripples, not stagnant dots no matter what Q believes.

Screencap via CygnusX1.net

Posted in Rewatch, Star Trek, Television shows, tv reviews

The Rewatch 219: Dax

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
Episode:  1.08 Dax (0215/1993)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1

Notable Guest Stars:
Gregory Itzin (Illon Tandro) – He is known for his role in 24, appearances on Friends, and several episodes of Star Trek over the years including DS9, Voyager and Enterprise.
Fionnula Flanagan (Enina Tandro) – Flanagan played several roles on Trek over the years, including that of Juliana Soong, Data’s “mom”. Some of her other notable roles include Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Transamerica,
Anne Haney (Judge Renora) – She previously played Rishon on TNG.  She is also known for her roles in Mrs Doubtfire and Mama’s Family.
Richard Lineback (Selin Peers) – Another Star Trek alum, he played roles on DS9, TNG and Enterprise.  He also plays the father in Twister, one of my favorite childhood films.
Spice Williams (Klaestron Kidnapper) – Spice Williams is a reoccuring face among Star trek, having guest starred as several characters over the years as well as working on stunts. In this episode she gets to beat up Julian Bashir. She is also the sister-in-law of Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar)

Review:

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The Rewatch 217: Q-Less

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
Episode:  1.07 (02/8/1993)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1

Notable Guest Stars:
 John de Lancie (Q) – This is John de Lancie’s second series with Trek (out of four he will appear in to my knowledge)
Jennifer Hetrick (Vash) – This will be Hetrick’s third appearance as Vash, Picard’s love interest and archeological thief.

Review:

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The Rewatch 216: Aquiel

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 6.12 Aquiel (2/1/1993)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/3/38

Notable Guest Stars:
Renee Jones (Aquiel Uhnari)- I know her best as Lexie Carter on Days of Our Lives. She played the role from 1993 to 2012, and it appears to be her last credit. She has no credits after 2012.
Wayne Grace (Torak) – Grace has done both live action and voice work, including several Star Wars and Star Trek games. He played roles in DS9 and Enterprise.
Reg. E. Cathey (Morag)- He played Franklin Storm in the more recent reboot of Fantastic Four. Which I still need to see. He also appeared in House of Cards, for which he has received several Emmy nominations. He unfortunately passed away in 2018, with his final performance being the voice of Captain Quaid in Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure.

Review:

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The Rewatch 215: Captive Pursuit

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9)
Episode:  1.06 Captive Persuit (02/1/1994)
Rating: 5/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1

Notable Guest Stars:
 Scott MacDonald (Tosk) MacDonald is a reoccurring Trek actor, and he will continue to show up in various series, including Enterprise.
Gerrit Graham (Hunter)- Graham, like MacDonald is a reoccuring actor in the franchise, appearing first as The Hunter on DS9 before joining the Q continuum as Quinn on Voyager.  He also was an option to play Odo before Rene Auberjonois was chosen.
Kelly Curtis (Miss Sarda)- Curtis is the older sister of Jamie Lee Curtis, but unlike her sister and parents, her career tends to be behind the scenes more these days than in front of the camera.

Review:

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