Category: tv reviews

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

The Rewatch 198: The Next Phase

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 5.24 The Next Phase (5/18/1992)
Rating: 5/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/35

Notable Guest Stars:
Thomas Kopache (Mirok)- Kopache has played several roles on various Star Trek series, including TNG, DS9, and ENT . He has also appeared frequently on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, West Wing, Stargate, and the 2020 West Wing Special.
Susanna Thompson (Varel)– She appears in DS9 as Lenora Kahn, Jadzia’s love interest as her most notable Trek role. But she has also appeared on Voyager as the Borg Queen, so I may be wrong about that. I know her more from the series Arrow where she played Moira Queen.
Shelby Leverington (Brossmer)- It was kind of hard to find much on Leverington past 2009. She has been on several daytime Soap Operas, and her last recorded role on IMDB is an appearance on ER during its final season in 2009.
Brian Cousins (Parem) –like Levrington, he appeared on daytime soap operas (a bit later in his career), as well as appearing in several well-known crime investigation shows. He will appear again on TNG in “Descent” which is connected to this episode. He will however be playing a different character.

Review:

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

The Rewatch 196: Imaginary Friend

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 5.22 Imaginary Friend (5/4/1992)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/35

Notable Guest Stars:
Noley Thornton (Clara)- Thornton will also appear in DS9 as another child character.  She however is no longer active in the acting field.
Shay Astar (Isabella) – You may recognize her from Third Rock from the Sun where she played August.  She is also a musician, and you can purchase/listen to her music on Itunes and Amazon.

Review:

 In this episode, we are focusing on a child character again, but in an interesting way.  Clara is the daughter of a new engineering officer on The Enterprise.  She has an imaginary friend named Isabella who begins to concern her father, so Deanna is called in to meet with her.

She sees no problem with imaginary friends at Clara’s age and seems unworried.  However, an energy being decides to learn about the Enterprise via being Isabella, and starts to get Clara in trouble.

I’m actually surprised how long into the episode they figure things out. I feel they should have figured things out earlier, and it could have been scarier.  Its like they tried to make a scary episode and got not far enough. Its fine…but it could have been better.

Interesting Notes:

  • Written by (story)Jean Louise Matthias, Ronald Wikerson, Richard Fliegel, (Teleplay) Edithe Swensen, and Brannon Braga
  • Directed by Gabrielle Beaumont

Pros

  • Hey, look other vacation spots then Risa is suggested.

Cons:

  • Why do all energy beings look the same?  Like it looks like they used the same effect for Ian Troi, the energy being of Season 2.

Screencap via CygnusX1.net

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

The Rewatch 195: The Perfect Mate

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 5.21 The Perfect Mate (4/27/1992)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/35

Notable Guest Stars:
Famke Janssen (Kamala) – I know her most prominently as Jean Gray in X-men.
Tim O’Conner (Briam) – O’Conner was a long time Character Actor on television.
Max Grodenchik (Par Lenor) – He will be a regular on DS9 as Rom.  Oddly he pretty much looks like Rom in this episode, so I guess they got the make-up ready.
Mickey Cottrell (Alrik) – He is a reoccuring actor in Star Trek.  He’ll appear in Voyager

Review:

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

The Rewatch 194: Cost of Living

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 5.20 Cost of Living (3/30/1992)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/35

Notable Guest Stars:
 Tony Joy (Minister Campio)-  Joy had been a voice actor for several animated shows including the 90s classic Hey Arnold.
Albie Selznick (Juggler) –  He appeared on The Young and the Restless for two years, and also co-stared in Suddenly Susan.
Patrick Cronin (protocol Master Erko)-  He appeared on several daytime soaps over the years, and had a reoccuring spot on Home Improvement.

Review:

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

The Rewatch 193: The First Duty

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 5.19 The First Duty (3/30/1992)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/35

Notable Guest Stars:
Ray Walston (Boothby) – Wiki states that he is most known for My Favorite Martian, but I know him best as Luther Billis in South Pacific (1958)

Robert Duncan McNiel (Nick Locarno)- He’s Tom Paris.  Also a well known director of television, including shows like Chuck.

Jaqueline Brookes (Admiral Brand)- She appeared on several soap operas over the years but her main call was the theater.  She also appeared in the 1993 horror film The Good Son staring Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood.

Walker Brandt (Jean Hajar)- Brandt does a mix of acting and producing.  Her first role was in the comedy City Slickers with Billy Crystal.

Shannon Fill (Sito Jaxa) – Fill will appear again as Jaxa later in the series.  She had a relatively short career in film.  She also had a career in figure skating.

Review:

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

The Rewatch 191: The Outcast

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 5.17 Outcast (2/17/1992)
Rating: 3.5/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/35

Notable Guest Stars:
Callen White (Krite) – White has appeared with various roles in several Soap Operas, including The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful and Loving.

Megan Cole (Noor)- Cole had a reoccuring role on ER as Dr. Upton during the second season of the show. She will also appear on DS9 as a separate character.

Melinda Culea (Soren) – Culea is most known for her role as Amy Allen in the A-Team.  She is currently focusing on her work as an author and illustrator.

Review:

CONTENT WARNING: Contains discussions of Conversion Therapy.

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

The Rewatch 190: Ethics

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 5.16 Ethics (2/17/1992)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/35

Notable Guest Stars:
Caroline Kava (Toby Russell)-  Kava is not only an actress but a playwright.  She has written and or adapted several plays for off-Broadway performance.

Review:

CONTENT WARNING: This review, due to the episode, contains references to Assisted Suicide/ Suicidal thoughts.

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

The Rewatch 189: Power Play

Posted on by sokorra

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 5.15 Power Play (2/17/1992)
Rating: 5/5
Redshirt Status: 0/1/35

Notable Guest Stars:
This episode is largely a bottle episode, taking place mostly with actors already on the show (main and reoccuring) and on already built sets. All the notable guest stars for this episode are reoccuring guest stars, which I stop mentioning after an episode or two.

Review:

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