Posted in Star Trek, Television shows, tv reviews

The Rewatch 234: Gambit

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 7.04 Gambit Part 1 (October 11, 1993) and 7.05 Gambit Part 2 (October 18, 1993)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/7/64

Notable Guest Stars:

Richard Lynch (Arctus Baran) – Lynch was a very productive actor.  Although I don’t recognize many titles on his filmography he made several a year so there are a lot of them.  It seemed he liked playing Villains in horror movies or low-budget scifi.  He was in Halloween 2007, the Rob Zombie remake of the cult classic. He died in 2012.

Robin Curtis (Tallera/T’Paal) – Robin Curtis first appeared in Star Trek as Saavik, replacing Kristy Alley in the role.  She also appeared on Babylon 5.

Caitlin Brown (Vekor)- Another Babylon 5 Alum, she is most known for her role in the series as Na’Toth.  She appears in both this two parter and as a different character in the DS9 episode The Passenger from season one.

Cameron Thor (Narik) –  You might recognize him as Lewis Dodgson, the person trying to get a hold of genetic material from Jurassic Park in the 1993 movie.  On a sad note, he was imprisoned from 2016-2019 on a charge of a lewd act on a child.

Sabrina LeBeauf (Ensign Giusti) – Unrelated to Shea, she is best known for being Sondra Huxtable on the Crosby Show.  She also voiced a character in a animated series based on Bill Crosby’s book Fatherhood.

James Worthy (Koral) – Formerly a player for the LA Lakers, he now works as a sports commentator. And honestly I just love his non-performance.

Stephen Lee (Bartender) –  Stephen Lee was a popular background actor and appeared in over 90 different shows.  Sadly he died in 2014.

Bruce Gray (Admiral Chekote) – He appeared in the last episode, but I felt I should mention him again since he will play larger parts going forward.

Review:

Ok, so despite the awkward “The Captain is dead” but really isn’t plot, these are two episodes because I simply like the idea of space pirates in search of archeology.  Well, I’d prefer the type of Will & Elizabeth pirate rather then the ones we have here, but still, it’s like Indiana Jones in Space.

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I also find the argument between Deanna and Will about the grieving process very interesting, especially in light of what I know about Picard.  We know of course that Picard is alive, but they do not, and their grief is real.

This may be 2 parts, but I agree with the writers it could have been made a one parter.  Or they could have developed the mythos behind the device. There seems to be a pacing problem in the episode. 

I enjoyed the episode, and that everyone got to play different roles then usual.   We get to see Data in command, with Worf as his first officer. Picard gets to act renegade. Riker pretty much acts like Riker, so that’s not new.

It also opens up a whole bunch of possibilities as far as the Vulcans go.  The one thing about Sci-fi that I love is the world building and finding out about the cultures in this far off (or alternate) place. Although I had to admit its odd hearing the Vulcans talking about “The gods” when they are normally more of an atheistic society. I have always believed that you can believe in a higher power and believe in science and logic, so it fits my beliefs very well.

Interesting Notes:

  • Story by Christopher Hatton (initially) and Naren Shankar.  Teleplay by Naren Shankar (1) and Ronald D. Moore (2)
  • Directed by Peter Lauritson (1) and Alexander Singer (2)
  • The production crew had mixed reactions to the idea of this episode.  Gene Roddenberry hadn’t liked the idea of space pirates and had he been alive would have nixed the episode.  However, some of the other members were intrigued.  Others felt it was a bit campy.
  • This episode contains TNG’s longest fight scene.
  • Picard took on the name Galan, after his mentor Professor Galen
  • The Debrune are supposedly an off shoot of the Romulans, who are in turn an off shoot of Vulcans.
  • The second part of the episode holds many references to TOS episodes and films. It also holds several connections to ENT episodes.

Pros:

  • Expansion of Vulcan Society
  • Federation History
  • Picard gets to geek out
  • Data gets to be in command and we get to see Worf adjust to being a first officer rather then a security officer.

Cons:

Bit of a timing issue.  I think they could have focused more on the artifact and less on Boran (Sorry Mr. Lynch).

Screencap via CygnusX1.net

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

The Rewatch 148: Sarek

Series: Star Trek: TNG
Episode: 3.23 Sarek (4/14/1990)
Rating: 5/5
Redshirt Status: 0/.5/22

Notable Guest Stars:

Mark Lenard (Sarek) – Mark Lenard has played Sarek in several episodes of Star Trek as well as the films.
Joanna Miles
(Perrin) – Joanna Miles won 2 Emmy Awards for her acting in the film The Glass Menagerie. She also will return as Perrin in the later episode Unification.
Rocco Sisto (Sakkath) Sisto has been on several long running shows as a guest star, including JAG, Crossing Jordan and of course Star Trek.
William Denis (
Ki Mendrossen) Denis does not have an extensive IMDB profile, but his first role listed was on the Golden Girls.

Review:

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

The Rewatch 129: Who Watches the Watchers

Series: Star Trek:TNG
Episode: 3.034 Who Watches the Watchers (10-16-1989)
Rating: 4/5
Redshirt Status: 0/0/21.5

Notable Guest Stars:

Kathryn Leigh Scott – Nuria. She played Maggie Evans on Dark Shadows.
Ray Wise
– Liko. He most recently played Marvin on the TV series Fresh off the Boat.
James Greene-
Barron. He appeared in the 1980s drama Alien Nation which was apparently cast with several guest stars from Star Trek.
Pamela Segall -Oji. She has many many credits. I had to scroll a bit on her IMDB to confirm the Star Trek credit. She does a mix of live action and voice acting. She has appeared in Pete the Cat and This is Us in the last few years.
John McLiam – Fento. He also has several credits, particularly in TV westerns, but he also had a bit part in the Audrey Hepburn version of My Fair Lady.

Review:

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Posted in movie reviews, Rewatch, Star Trek

The Rewatch 121: The Final Frontier

Series: Star Trek TOS era Films
Episode: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier(6-9-89)
Rating:  3/5
Redshirt Status:

Notable Guest Stars:
Laurence Luckinbill – Sybok. He is mainly known for his role in this film, but he also appeared in several TV movies as minor characters, and narrated the 1985 mini series Space.
David Warner –
John Talbot,.  He most recently appeared on Screen as Admiral Boom in Mary Poppins Returns. He would also appear in the next film as Chancellor Gorkon.
Charles Cooper –
Korrd.  He appeared as Judge Robert Boucher in the 90s TV series The Practice. He appeared in Star Trek TNG as K’mpec.
Spice Williams-Crosby –
Vixis  She went on to have a stunt career, being the stunt double of Denise Crosby and Jeri Ryan on Star Trek.  She married into the family of Bing Crosby and both her husband and son are actors as well.
George Murdock –
“God”. He has appeared in Torchwood: Miracle Day as Preacher, and had a reoccurring role on Judging Amy. He would later appear in TNG as Admiral J.P. Hansen.
Harve  Bennet –
Starfleet Chief of Staff.  He was a long time writer and producer of Star Trek films.
Melanie Shatner
– Yeoman.  She is the daughter of William Shatner.  This is her third appearance on Star trek, her first being the TOS episode Miri.  She appeared as a jogger in The Voyage Home as well.

Review:

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

The Rewatch 27: Amok Time

Series: Star Trek (The Original Series)
Episode: 2.01 Amok Time  (9-15-67)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/0/23 (Episode/Season/Series)

Notable Guest Stars:
Celia Lovsky – T’Pau. She had many appearances on television, including Twilight Zone
Arlene Martel – T’Pring She often played roles on Television, and later would appear on the non-official Star Trek film Of Gods and Men
Lawrence Montaigne – Stonn. He previously played a Romulan in Balance of Power

Review:

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