Dexter 3.0

After eight seasons of serial-killing drama, Dexter ended its original television run with a notoriously bad finale that enraged fans. Then, a few years later, the single season Dexter: New Blood arrived to "re-conclude" the story in a more satisfying way. But this show about a killer won't stay dead; this year brought us a prequel series (that I never even made time to sample before it was canceled), and an improbable new revival, Dexter: Resurrection.

Dexter: Resurrection delivers on the promise of the title, finding a way to pick up the story of "killer of killers" Dexter Morgan for yet another season of tension, drama, and blood. When Dexter's son Harrison snaps and commits a brutal murder of his own (albeit, on a "deserving" person who would very much fit "the code"), Dexter is determined to help him evade suspicion. But soon Dexter is entangled in a situation of his own: he accepts the invitation of an eccentric billionaire who gathers serial killers for intimate dinners and conversation. Has Dexter found brethren who can truly understand him... or a veritable buffet of worthy targets for his Dark Passenger?

I approached Dexter: New Blood with cautious optimism, willing to embrace more time with Dexter Morgan partly because of the eerie charisma of Michael C. Hall, and partly thinking that the writers couldn't help but improve on the ending of the original series. Dexter: Resurrection arrived in a different posture. New Blood had given me the worthy ending I craved, and I needed nothing more. And yet, I kind of had to know what soap opera-style tricks they'd embrace to keep Dexter's story going. Plus, of course, Michael C. Hall was going to be compelling in whatever story that was.

Early on, Resurrection faced every reservation I had. The show wiggled out of the ending of New Blood without doing too much damage to its dramatic heft. Jennifer Carpenter does not return -- a real loss for the new show (as I wrote in my New Blood review that you can't do Dexter without her as Deb). But at least James Remar is back as Dexter's "ghostly" father Harry. And Jack Alcott, the best addition to New Blood, returns here as Harrison and is central to the story.

But Resurrection crossed the line from quieting my doubts and into actively entertaining me with its stellar new characters and their casting. The season features Uma Thurman, Peter Dinklage, Neil Patrick Harris, Krysten Ritter, Eric Stonestreet, and David Dastmalchian -- packing as much star wattage into a single season of Dexter as any three or four seasons of the original run. (And that's not even counting the numerous re-appearances and cameos of characters from the original show.)

Each of these new-to-Dexter actors plays an indelible character, quirky but believable, that might have been the focus of any one season of the original Dexter. They're all brought together here in a sort of "leave it all on the field" approach to storytelling that works very much in the re-revival's favor. Too well, perhaps? After Resurrection reached another satisfying (if less definitive) end than New Blood, it got renewed for another season! Can there possibly be any toys left to empty from this particular toy box? I suppose we'll find out.

I'd give Dexter: Resurrection a B+. If you were burned out by the original (or sated by New Blood) and are not inclined to give Dexter another chance, I get it... and Resurrection isn't quite "essential" viewing. But it is a nice reminder of how fun Dexter could be at its peak.

Naked Eye

I would not necessarily have pegged The Naked Gun as a franchise that was ripe for rebooting. But Hollywood will reboot pretty much anything these days, and so it was that this year we got a new The Naked Gun film starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr., a lieutenant in L.A.'s "Police Squad" that fights crime with tongue planted firmly in cheek amid an avalanche of jokes.

I admit, the "reboot anything" framing I just used probably makes it sound like I was primed not to like this film. Quite the opposite, actually; I had high hopes for it, given the pedigree. It was directed and co-written by Akiva Schaffer, one-third of The Lonely Island. It was produced by Seth MacFarlane's production company, and he in turn probably influenced getting Liam Neeson to star (the two having worked together before). Every one of these people has comedy chops -- and has demonstrated an affinity for the joke-dense environment that was the original Naked Gun trilogy.

When you watch this new movie, it's clear that everyone involved has a particular affection for the comedy of Zucker-Abraham-Zucker ("ZAZ"), the trio who created Police Squad! (the short-lived TV show that inspired The Naked Gun), as well as Airplane! and Top Secret! (They had a thing for exclamation points.) This new movie embraces the particular anarchy of a ZAZ film that will try anything for a laugh -- running gags, dumb puns, sight gags, prat falls -- and will pile it on so fast that there's no worry when one joke doesn't work for you. One that does will be close behind.

There are particular jokes in this new movie that feel like they could have been written by that original ZAZ trio, wordplay along the lines of "Surely you can't be serious." But there are other styles in the mix too, like a long plot diversion about a snowman that almost feels like a Lonely Island sketch plopped down right in the middle of the movie. I didn't find the whole to be as deliriously funny as some of those ZAZ classics, but that could well be because those hit me at just the right age. In any case, this did make me laugh.

Liam Neeson is a wonderful heir to Leslie Nielsen's deadpan delivery, and the cast surrounding him meets that tone. Pamela Anderson is willing to shed every ounce of vanity in her femme fatale-like role. Paul Walter Hauser brings the "comic sidekick" chops he displayed on Cobra Kai to this more satirical stage. Danny Huston and CCH Pounder, both best known for dramatic work, bring the same intensity to this utter tomfoolery. That is the Leslie Nielsen model: don't behave any differently as you say the stupidest stuff.

In short, The Naked Gun is stupid fun. If you liked the original, you will like this reboot -- it's that simple. I give it a B.

Enterprise Flashback: Doctor's Orders

"Doctor's Orders" is the 16th episode of season three of Star Trek: Enterprise. And if you've watched a lot of Star Trek, you'll probably feel like you've seen it before.

When Enterprise comes upon a massive anomaly, directly on the route to the Xindi weapon, they cannot afford the lengthy detour to fly around. Instead, a plan is hatched to put the crew in stasis, protecting them from the effects of the anomaly. Phlox, less susceptible, will tend to both the sleeping crew and the ship. But is he up to the challenge?

Many Star Trek series have lifted story ideas from earlier installments of the franchise. When you start with a new cast of characters, then remix enough of the details, you can end up with an episode that feels different even when the inspiration is clear. But to me, this is not an example of that. "Doctor's Orders" feels quite directly inspired by Voyager's "One," which put Seven of Nine in the same position. And instead of making different choices to suit the characters of Enterprise, this episode almost methodically makes all the same choices of that previous script.

First, Enterprise doesn't take the bold risk of actually depicting Phlox on his own -- which would have immediately differentiated this episode from Voyager, where Seven of Nine had the Doctor. Phlox has T'Pol as a partner and sounding board. And while T'Pol's erratic behavior is likely to make you deduce way before the reveal that she's (uh, SPOILER) actually a figment of Phlox's imagination, enough of the episode functions as a "two-person play" that it's hard for this story to step out from the shadow of the Voyager version.

That reveal itself is also stolen from the Voyager take on the concept. Seven of Nine eventually imagined a villain -- threatening the ship and her personally -- who wasn't actually there, making Phlox's imagined T'Pol even less of a surprise to savvy Trekkers. And Enterprise doesn't get much mileage out of that twist here. Jolene Blalock gets to cut loose, portraying an increasingly unmoored and emotional version of T'Pol, but we never really scratch beneath the surface of what she represents in Phlox's psyche, or even have Phlox reckon with just how far he'd slipped once he realizes he imagined her.

I think fundamentally, the issue here is that Seven of Nine is just a far more interesting character to put in this situation than Phlox; her history in the Borg collective makes her especially susceptible to the pressures of being alone. Sure, Phlox has always been portrayed as a gregarious extrovert... but isolating him is hardly the same. And I think without that clear direction for the story, the writers don't quite know what they want to do. They try a few suspense-thriller moments of strange noises in the ship... but then Phlox never finds anything and the tension never really builds. They try comedy, with Phlox walking around naked (Austin Powers style) and then being able to a watch a movie without his incessant talking ruining anyone else's experience... but this isn't a naturally funny situation, and so the comedy runs out quickly.

But Enterprise does have one major thing on its side: John Billingsley. In a show that consistently has shown little interest in developing characters outside of Archer, T'Pol, and Trip, Billingsley has consistently delivered performances as Phlox that make you take notice. If you're going to do this story on Enterprise and put one actor front-and-center, Billingsley is the only choice. Even as the episode as a whole doesn't always work for me, his choices in each moment really make each scene shine. (And Jolene Blalock has certainly grown as an actor since season one. Before we reach truly "wild T'Pol" at the end of the story, she gives several more subtle moments that I think would have been beyond her during season one.)

Other observations:

• This feels like the weak version of the "XX hours earlier" trope, manufacturing tension by showing us an empty ship before flashing back to show us how they got there. (The story doesn't move fast enough to build interest if it showed events chronologically.) 

• I'm not sure who the foot fetishist is among the Star Trek writers of the time, but first they gave us a closeup of Neelix's gross feet, and here they do the same for Phlox.

• Possibly adding to the whole "Voyager did this first" of it all is the fact that Roxann Dawson (who played B'Elanna on that show) directs this episode.

So here's my twist ending: I'm going to give "Doctor's Orders" a B. Yes, it's an uninspired retread, but still... it isn't tedious to watch. I guess this is how much esteem I have for John Billingsley, that I'm basically willing to watch the same episode twice to see what he does with it. Though I feel like if this episode had been about anyone else, it might have been a low point for the season.

Star Trek Flashback: The Naked Time

Nearly 40 years (!) after Star Trek: The Next Generation began, it has become many Trekkers' favorite Star Trek series. It's almost hard to remember that in the run-up to the two-hour premiere, a significant chunk of the fan base was denouncing the show before it even began, for not featuring the original crew. The Next Generation was going to just be a pale imitation of the original series! It probably felt to that crowd like their worst fears were being realized when the first regular episode of Next Gen was practically a straight-up remake of an beloved original, "The Naked Time."

When the Enterprise arrives to monitor the destruction of a planet, a landing party finds a research team dead on the surface in a variety of unexplained circumstances. Unknowingly, they bring a virus back to the ship that is transmitted by touch and acts on the crew like intense alcohol intoxication. Soon, half of them have abandoned their stations in drunken rage, ego, grief, or stupor -- leaving the Enterprise spiraling out of control toward the planet surface.

It's easy to see the appeal of this episode for everyone involved. For the writers, it's a useful "shortcut" to establish character early on in the series; get them all drunk and lower their inhibitions, and it becomes plausible for them to act out or give voice to the core desires that drive them. (Gene Roddenberry liked this gimmick so much that he straight-up stole it for The Next Generation.) For the actors, it's a chance to color outside the lines they're usually given. (George Takei gives a wild but entertaining performance -- and since he was really never given more to do than in this episode, he often cites it as his personal favorite.)

The audience at the time ate it up too. Leonard Nimoy often spoke of the surge in his fan mail after this episode aired, spurred by a key monologue in which an infected Spock wrestles with his turbulent repressed emotions. Nimoy says he requested the scene as a very late rewrite, to replace some dopey sight gag involving Spock and a crewman. I would say he doesn't hit a home run in his performance of it. Still, it's at least a solid double. It's filmed in a single take, and all reports are Nimoy was only given one chance to perform it (thanks to the merciless production speed of the day). Not only did it win over the first wave of Spock fans, but I suspect it's the reason why when The Next Generation remade this story, they inexplicably chose for Data to also get drunk. (It worked so well last time for the emotionless character!)

The Spock scene is the one most cited by fans, but there are plenty more moments here to like. Kirk's devotion to the Enterprise is a fun conceit, even if we'll all come to learn that "she" is most certainly not the only "woman" in his life. It's a great episode for Uhura, who can take the navigation console when ordered, actually gets an apology from the captain in a heated moment, and gets the slyest one-liner possibly in all of Star Trek -- when a sword-wielding Sulu declares "I'll protect you, fair maiden," she instantly snaps back: "sorry, neither." And while you could easily cut it for time (and they did, when syndicating this episode later), I like the cool professionalism of McCoy and Chapel as they perform a surgery mid-episode.

The advent of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has possibly increased the impact of this episode. We now have that show's long-running exploration of the relationship between Spock and Nurse Chapel to inform their interaction here. Does every moment of Strange New Worlds dovetail perfectly into the original series? Of course not. Still, if you've actually watched this couple on Strange New Worlds, dancing around each other and ultimately drifting apart, the emotions here in "The Naked Time" matter a whole lot more: they're buried feelings re-emerging rather than being dredged up from nowhere.

Of course, not every moment of the episode plays perfectly in 2025. The casual disdain for disease containment shown by a crewman (starting this whole mess) is horrifying in a post-Covid world. (Not that those suits look like they'd stop anything.) A "tense" moment of the same crewman threatening people is pretty silly thanks to the butter knife prop he's given. Riley reveals casual sexism when drunk, McCoy's tearing of Kirk's shirt to administer a shot is laugh-out-loud funny (thanks, Galaxy Quest!), and a crewman's drunken graffiti makes no sense at all. (Why is "LOVE MANKIND" so funny and "SINNER REPENT" so sinister? Is this a commentary on hippies we had to be there for at the time?)

And completely separate from what parts of this episode "age well" or not, I really don't understand the ending. In the strangest epilogue to the story that I could imagine, the crew accidentally discovers how to travel through time. Does it have anything to do with the drunken virus shenanigans we've watched for the last hour? Nope -- just a flag being weirdly planted to say, "come back next week, folks -- we might have a time travel adventure!" (Not right away, we won't.)

Other observations:

• The camera angle of the first drops of blood infecting an Enterprise crewmember is just strange. Is the blood dripping sideways? Is it conscious somehow and reaching toward him? I don't get it.

• We get the first Vulcan nerve pinch in this episode! But it's clearly not the first time Kirk has seen it, since he suggests Spock should teach him to do it some time.

• In one moment, Spock is seen making some calculations on a device that seems like it's meant as the futuristic version of a slide rule.

• Uhura absolutely gets touched by infected Sulu, and yet never succumbs to drunkenness. That makes her the most professional member of the entire Enterprise crew.

I do feel like "The Naked Time" could have used a bit more script polish. Is the core of Sulu's being really that of a swashbuckling swordsman? Do we need to spend so much time on Riley instead of the core characters? And again, what's with the random time traveling element? But overall, the premise here is a good one, and the results are a lot of fun. I give the episode a B.

Burn Notice

Back in 2019, a then-new movie made it on my "watch it someday" list. But that "someday" didn't come until James Gunn's recent Superman film gave it a second moment in the spotlight.

Brightburn is a movie clearly derived from Superman's well-known origin story: a childless farmer couple discovers an alien spacecraft with a single young occupant, and raise the adopted alien as their own. As the child approaches adolescence, he comes to realize his true purpose on Earth: to use his manifesting super powers to conquer the planet.

Brightburn arrived in theaters a few years before Invincible reached our TV screens, and a few months before The Boys -- though well over a decade after the source comics for either of those series. While that timeline could get fans arguing over which if these (if any of these) was "first" to the idea of ultraviolent superhero stories, Brightburn is doing something distinctly different from the rest: it's a horror movie.

As young Brandon Breyer discovers the scope of his powers, he quickly becomes a Freddy/Jason/Michael Myers-type figure at the center of a story that observes all the conventions of the bloodiest horror movies. Cornered victims flee for their lives -- sometimes making clever choices but often not -- before being snuffed out in the most grisly ways imaginable. It's not for all audiences, and it certainly lacks the social commentary of the episodic TV shows I mentioned. But if you just like a good slasher movie on occasion, well -- here it is. (And what occasion is more fitting that the run-up to Halloween?)

Brightburn has been hard to find on streaming services (included in a subscription, at least), and might not have been remembered at all were it not for the its creative pedigree. James Gunn used his Marvel-soon-turning-to-DC clout and money to produce this script by his brother Brian and cousin Mark. And while he didn't take the director's chair (that job went to David Yarovesky), he did make sure to cast many of the actors from his core "repertory company." Fans of Peacemaker in particular will clock the brief appearances of Jennifer Holland, Steve Agee, and omnipresent Gunn collaborator Michael Rooker -- as well as David Denman in the role of Brandon's father.

But the big name in the cast is Elizabeth Banks. She has a tricky, almost double role that calls for her to be both loving, protective mother and conventional horror movie heroine. This movie is certainly more about "the kills" than the performances -- but for what it's worth, I think Banks gives a good one.

I don't feel like Brightburn is "can't miss" entertainment, not even for horror movie enthusiasts. I'd give it a B-. But if it sounds like a bloody good time, you might want to check it out. Either way, I think it's nice that the movie got something of a second life as a side effect of the new Superman discourse.

We Had a Grape Time

Although we got to see plenty of gorgeous scenery on our recent trip to Palisade, the main reason for the trip was to visit wineries in the area. On the afternoon we arrived, and over the next two days, we stopped at a number of places -- and here are some of the highlights.

Maison La Belle Vie Winery was an impulsive stop on the first night -- it was literally just across the street from where we were. It had a lovely outdoor patio area that would have been ideal just a few weeks earlier before the evening chill was so strong. They also had (among other good options) a tasty port-style wine that I enjoyed enough to buy a bottle. Regrettably, I didn't snap a picture there (since the sun had already set), but I'll swap out for an image of the rainbow that welcomed us to the area earlier in the afternoon.

On our first full day, we got to go to university. We stopped by Varaison, hitting it at just the right time where the owner and head winemaker Ron personally oversaw our tasting. And in his own words, "I'm not just going to shove a menu across the counter at you." Instead, he did a deep dive on exactly how to get your palate to perceive different flavors, and then how to drill in on exactly what about the wine is contributing to the flavors you like. The goal: once you know what you like and why, you should be able to find more wines that also suit your tastes.

Along the way, Ron taught us about De Long's Wine Grape Varietal Table, how alcohol content corresponds to fruit ripeness (and what numbers you should be looking for, depending on your own preference for fruit-forward wines), and much, much more. He also regaled us with stories of his past work for a massive beer conglomerate, a later stint in California wine country, and more. Ron seems to have done it all, and wanted nothing more than to share his experience with others.

Two Rivers Winery was another spontaneous stop, this one on day two, after our drive through Colorado National Monument. This winery is in Grand Junction, just minutes from the Monument, and was picturesque inside and out. We had the French-style chateau completely to ourselves, sitting in a big hearth room with a window to the distillation room and lined with paintings. Their highlight was the less common Baco Noir grape, grown right on their property, and great both on its own and in a complex red blend.

 

The final winery of the trip was Restoration Vineyards. It's location further away from the cliffs made for a sprawling view in any direction, which you could enjoy in their spacious yard peppered with inviting clusters of chairs. It was a beautiful setting for a full glass, and a sort of "summation" of the whole trip.

Palisade turned out to be a lot more like Napa Valley than I'd have ever imagined. Though not every turn revealed a new "wine Disneyland," you could certainly find just about anything here in Colorado that you might look for there -- whether that's a beautiful view, a sprawling estate, a hidden gem... or just a tasty wine. In all, the trip was an excellent reminder that from time to time, it's great to play "tourist" close to home. 

Star Trek Flashback: Where No Man Has Gone Before

The original pilot episode of Star Trek was famously rejected by the network. But in an incredibly rare turn of events, a second pilot was commissioned. The second time around, the series was picked up, and the rest is history. That second pilot that got the job done was "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

When the Enterprise attempts to penetrate the barrier at the edge of the galaxy, the ship is critically damaged. Even more concerning, helm officer Gary Mitchell starts to exhibit strong mental abilities... and an even stronger ego as he begins to regard himself as something different -- and better -- than human. Can he be stopped before it's too late?

Like "The Cage" before it, "Where No Man Has Gone Before" doesn't arrive as fully-formed Star Trek as fans would ultimately come to know it. There's still no Dr. McCoy. Kirk's friend describes him as a "stack of book with legs" who turned away every attempt to set him up on a date. The iconic red shirts still don't exist, with a subtle shade of tan in its place instead. (And even the "gold" is actually a shade of green, as you can see in some moments either when shadows block the blazing studio lights, or a matching color undershirt peeks out beneath the sweater.) The writers haven't decided how human Spock is. (His comment that "one of my ancestors married a human female" would be a truly weird way to talk about your father.)

And yet, this feels a lot closer to classic Star Trek than "The Cage." The familiar theme of godlike powers is here -- filmed before "Charlie X," but oddly aired just one week after. Mitchell's descent into "evil" feel better paced and earned than that similar episode, plus his personal history with Captain Kirk makes it matter more. McCoy may not be here, but the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic is; Spock argues with cold logic that Mitchell must be killed, Doctor Dehner argues for compassion, and Kirk must triangulate his decision between these opposing views. And once he does, he winds up delivering a classic "Kirk speech" at the climax of this episode (ironically, to Dehner).

Of course, some elements of the episode are dated -- some as a product of the time (recordings on "tapes"; lots of unscientific talk about "ESP"), others because the writers could not possibly have known they were making this for the ages (the reference to a love sonnet written on an alien planet in 1996). I do wish the episode had thought to raise the question of whether distrust of a mind reader is a self-fulfilling prophecy -- if they know you're turning against them, won't they inevitably beat you to it? But then, that's a very "cerebral" notion when the network specifically advised them to do a less cerebral story. That's why Kirk chases after Mitchell in the end, kind of for no reason, when he could just let Mitchell go and warp Enterprise out of there. We have to have a climatic physical showdown to please the executives. This episode "understood the assignment," as we'd say today.

Other observations:

• It feels odd to me that so much of this story would hang on two characters fated to die in the end. But the solid performances of guest actors Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman go a long way toward making this episode work -- so both deserve a big "thanks for giving us Star Trek" in my book.

• There are stories about how much the silver contact lenses (denoting psychic powers) hurt the actors to wear. And really, they just look like they hurt like hell when you see them here. 

• The tombstone Mitchell creates for Kirk gives his name as "James R. Kirk" (not "T.") -- a contradiction that many fan theories have tried to reconcile in a spectrum of wild ways. (Among the ones I've heard: this one episode somehow takes place in an alternate universe; "R" is short for some nickname that's an in-joke between Kirk and Mitchell.) 

• We get Kirk's first fight-ripped shirt! 

• This is the only time Spock wears command gold. When you see how it looks on camera with his Vulcan makeup color, it's immediately obvious that one or the other has to change.

There's a lot I question about the original air order of Star Trek from 1966. But assuming you'd hung with the show back in the day (there were only two other things you could choose to watch), I think you'd be finding that each episode was an improvement on the one before. I give "Where No Man Has Gone Before" a B-.

Monumental Views

This past week, I made myself a tourist in my own home state and headed to the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, to Palisade. We were several weeks past the peak of the peaches for which the city is well-known... but it's also Colorado's wine county -- a little slice of Napa or Sonoma Valley just a few minutes east of Grand Junction. (With bizarrely named roads that are just mile marker fractions. Think "turn left on D 1/2 road, and we're at the intersection of 37 3/4 road.")

I'll often post a chronological recap of my trips -- as much for my own later reference as for sharing with others -- but that doesn't quite seem the right approach on this occasion. A lot of our activities were wine-related, and not all the wine was worth a detailed blow-by-blow. So I think I'm going to break things down into a "booze" and "non-booze" post... and start today with the latter.

On our first morning in Palisade, we started by backtracking east a bit to drive the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway. Along the way, we saw bighorn sheep grazing right by the road, a curiously decorated golden toilet marking the start of someone's private driveway, and plenty of beautiful mountain scenery. But as we approached our destination, an overlook known as the Land of Lakes, the weather took a turn. A drizzle increased to full-on rain, and we were high enough for low-hanging clouds to become a view-spoiling fog.

We were the only car in the parking lot when we stopped long enough to reinflate tires after a pressure warning had gone off. (I need to get a portable compressor for my own car!) Just the time that took, standing out in the freezing rain, was enough to discourage us from trying even a half mile hike to what surely would be a view of fog. So we bailed and headed back down the mesa. We might have missed The View we'd been seeking, but the sights were plenty beautiful on the return trip. The weather was clearing as we got to the bottom -- not quite enough to convince us to turn around and try again for the hike, but enough to promise that our winery-hopping afternoon wouldn't be spoiled by rain.

We had much better luck with our morning hike on the second morning. We drove into Grand Junction to have breakfast with family from the Denver area that was coincidentally driving home from their own road trip, and then pressed on to Colorado National Monument. It's a location that I think gets forgotten amid beautiful and well-known spots in other "four corners" states, but it's absolutely worth seeing -- a long loop road that circles Monument Canyon and provides access to gorgeous hikes of many lengths and difficulties.

We drove in at the western entrance and stopped at Canyon Rim Trail. The visitor center was closed due to the current government shutdown, but the trail itself was the main attraction. As the trail name suggests, we hiked along the rim of the canyon, getting a wonderful view of several named rock features out in the canyon. It's about half a mile to a marked overlook spot -- though honestly, the view was more breathtaking along the way, and no less so on the short walk back.

While on that hike, we'd seen other visitors at an overlook on a different point of the canyon, and decided to seek that spot next. That turned out to be Otto's Trail, an even shorter quarter-mile hike that takes you right to the edge of canyon rim. (Though the uphill return trip caught us maybe a little off-guard after the level Canyon Rim Trail.) If you're ever in Colorado National Monument, you should absolutely plan on one or both of those two hikes; they're a real showcase of what makes the site special.

We continued with the full loop, making other shorter stops for photos -- but ultimately deciding against any further hikes in favor of grabbing lunch back in Grand Junction and then getting back to afternoon winery-hopping. These morning drives -- both the one that went according to plan and the one that didn't -- were a welcome reminder that when you live in Colorado, beautiful locations are really right there in your "backyard." I'm glad they were part of our getaway.

I'll be back later this week with highlights from our winery visits. 

Reindeer: No Games

The "Hot New Thing on Netflix" has probably switched out several dozen times since Baby Reindeer wore the crown. But I've only now circled back to see what everyone was talking about in April of 2024.

Baby Reindeer is a seven episode mini-series written by and starring Richard Gadd, who based it on experiences from his own life. As his character Donny tries to break out in the London stand-up comedy scene, a woman named Martha begins stalking him. No one takes the threat seriously... but then, neither does he at first. After all, he's determined to deny there's any problem, since it might mean confronting a deep trauma from his past.

Most episodes of Baby Reindeer are around half an hour long. Between that and the stand-up comedy elements in the plot, you might come to the conclusion that the show is a comedy (if a black one). It certainly comes on that way in the first episode or two. But each installment gets progressively darker, until a powerful and harrowing episode four in the middle of the run, where we finally learn about Donny's past.

This is the point the show has been building to, and from that moment on, comedy isn't even on the agenda. Baby Reindeer becomes an intense stew of shame and self-loathing, sexual abuse, and mental health issues. And when it's all said and done? Expect to have complicated feelings about what you've watched. This ultimately isn't the kind of show you "like." And that's intentional.

I felt like I'd been the victim of a bait-and-switch, and that by the time I realized that, I'd gone too far to give up on the show. This structure seems very suited to the content itself: what ends up being dark and evil starts out seeming light and fun.

I didn't feel like the series wound up saying anything particularly profound. And... how could it? What is there to say about this situation, other than to dramatize it and let everyone see people for how horrible they are, and what they do to others?

I wasn't satisfied by the ending. But what realistic ending could be satisfying? There's no "getting over" trauma like this; it stays with you in ways you may not even realize, and might reassert itself at any moment.

I do know that there's great acting work among the core cast. Richard Gadd has written a story that demands he give an intensely vulnerable performance. Jessica Gunning's performance as Martha is key to the making the tonal shift work. And while the roles that two other characters serve in the plot is better not spoiled, I'll just say that Nava Mau and Tom Goodman-Hill each perfectly inhabit two opposing forces in Donny's life.

Despite how uncomfortable Baby Reindeer made me -- or perhaps because of it (again: that's the point) -- I think I'd give it a B+. But don't watch it if you're not prepared for something dark and traumatic.

Enterprise Flashback: Harbinger

Season three of Star Trek: Enterprise set up the mysterious "spheres" of the Expanse quite early on. But the mystery of who built them was not illuminated until more than halfway through the season, with "Harbinger."

Enterprise rescues an alien shuttle from inside a spatial anomaly... and begins to suspect secret motives from its lone occupant. Reed and Hayes butt heads over the crew's combat readiness and their own positions on the ship. And Trip's flirtation with an attractive MACO spurs an unexpected reaction from T'Pol.

I have often criticized episodes of Enterprise for being too plot-driven and not including enough scenes to develop character. This episode seemingly wants to address that all at once with this episode that's nearly all drama between characters and very little conventional plot. But the story lines fall short for me at almost every turn because this is simply not how this series has been built to operate.

To be fair, the writers have spent all season gradually pushing Trip and T'Pol together as a couple. They've been stripping down to rub each other almost every episode, so I wouldn't exactly say they've shown "restraint" -- but they writers have taken their time to play out a passable "will they, won't they?" story line. Yet if the final move in that game was to be a love triangle, they really should have established the third point, Amanda Cole, at some point before this. We've had multiple MACO characters appear multiple times in the season; she should have been one of them.

But we do get a different returning MACO, Major Hayes. I guess one or two episodes of Reed doing something to make himself look vaguely competent were too much for the writers, because here they're back to making him the worst main cast character on any Star Trek. He is, in reality show terms, a "messy bitch." He just picks one fight after another with Hayes throughout this episode, and the only time he gets anywhere remotely in the area of "being right" is when he sticks up for Travis getting roughed up in combat training more than necessary. Is all this plausible, realistic "workplace conflict?" Kinda. Still, it's not an endearing thing to do a character that should be generally heroic. Reed's climactic brawl with Hayes is a good opportunity for the show's stunt team -- but story-wise, the only one who looks good here is Archer, who orders them to settle their beef.

Perhaps the reason we get these big "B" and "C" plots is because the episode doesn't actually want to devote that much time to the "A" plot. The writers need to put the idea of the "Sphere Builder" aliens into play for the rest of the season-long story, but don't actually want to reveal much yet since there are still many episodes to go. Star Trek veteran Thomas Kopache is cast to play the alien, and does a good job with the mostly mustache-twirling role. But I think the makeup design is a bad choice -- the unhealthy alien looks enough like a Suliban that you get pretty far into the episode before learning that he actually isn't one.

Other observations:

• This being Enterprise, they have to be as titillating as possible: including a shot of naked T'Pol that shows just a bit of butt. Although... that's not how it originally aired on UPN in 2004. This episode was first broadcast less than 2 weeks after the infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction," and that scene was hastily altered to zoom in enough to crop the image at the base of her back. 

• As bad as Reed acts in this episode, Hayes doesn't come off better. When the two of them are trying to stop the Sphere Builder late in the episode, their shared first instinct is to shoot phasers in the direction of the ship's warp reactor. 

This episode ends with the feeling of a cliffhanger, yet its messy character arcs don't quite feel like the stuff cliffhangers are made of. Bringing the Sphere Builders into the story is interesting, but I'm generally left feeling like not much happens here. I give "Harbinger" a C+.

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

Disney+ subscribers are well aware of the steady diet of MCU and Star Wars television shows on offer. But "Pixar" is another major franchise on the service, and they too have a handful of TV series available. I recently finished watching one, Dream Productions.

This series takes us back to the world of Inside Out, and specifically back into the mind of Riley Andersen -- to the place where her dreams are made. Dream Productions operates like a movie studio, with scripted dreams and auteurs determined to provide Riley with insight and influence. Director Paula Persimmon is feeling increasingly behind the times, her best work dating back to Riley's childhood. New dream makers -- both friend and foe -- are looking to take her place as she fights to remain relevant.

Dream Productions is a simple, four episode mini-series. It perhaps could have been a regular (if short) Pixar movie if it had all been stitched together -- and I suppose you could binge it that way. But it works well as bite-sized returns to one of Pixar's most successful franchises (both creatively and financially) -- and seems better this way than attempting to bill it as, say, "Inside Out 3." There are cameo appearances from the emotions in Riley's brain (still voiced by Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, and the rest), and we do see bits of Riley in the real world -- but this really is centered on an entirely new cast of characters.

Because Inside Out is such a well-realized world with such creative potential, this TV spin-off starts with a leg up. And yet, they kind of keep telling variations of the same story: one obsessive character thinks they know what's best for Riley, and must learn that Riley is becoming a different, more developed person. Dream Productions' character of Paula Persimmon is especially similar to Joy in many ways. The show isn't bad... but the third bite at the same apple isn't as tasty.

If the structure is similar, though, the trappings are fun and different. The show spins a lot of Hollywood humor out of making dreams-as-movies. Fun ideas about adolescence are introduced, such as Riley imagining a "Canadian boyfriend." And the performances are fun. In particular, give me Maya Rudolph in any comedy and I'll lap it up; here she plays the studio head at Dream Productions.

I'd give Dream Productions a B. If somehow the Inside Out movies didn't win you over, I can't imagine this will. But if the premise charms you, I think you'll enjoy the trip back inside Riley's head. 

Star Trek Flashback: Charlie X

The second aired episode of the original Star Trek came from deeper in the show's production order, "Charlie X."

The Enterprise is transporting teenager Charlie Evans, who has mysteriously survived most of his life in complete isolation after crash landing on a planet. Perhaps there's truth to the rumors of unknown life on that planet? But there's a much bigger problem: Charlie begins lashing out in uncontrolled tantrums with powerful mental abilities that threaten the ship and crew. The only chance at stopping him may be for Captain Kirk to assert himself as a father figure for Charlie before it's too late.

"Powerful godlike aliens" was one of the original Star Trek's most enduring tropes. This was the first example of that ever seen by audiences, but the abandoned first pilot had already featured them, and at least one other episode with them had already been filmed before "Charlie X" (and would air soon). I find them all loosely in competition with one another, and that this one in particular lands on the weaker side of the scale.

For my tastes, the episode gets too wrapped up in "how could Charlie have survived as a child?", as opposed to "what must that life have been like for Charlie?" We see examples of Charlie's unsocialized behavior, and of allowances made because he "doesn't understand." But I'm not feeling a lot of empathy for the character in any of this. It's possible this is because the episode tips its hand almost immediately in revealing to us that Charlie has godly powers. Or maybe I'm kept at a remove by the trappings of the 1960s -- editing that features languid close-ups without any dialogue; casting that has a clearly adult man playing a 17-year-old; writing that includes butt slapping, a lascivious card trick, and the wild line "there's no right way to hit a woman." It's only at the very end, when Charlie begs for help, that the episode finally wants us to feel sorry for him -- and for me, that's far too late.

Still, this is a new show finding its way, and there are more signs it's doing so here. Yeoman Rand once again is a surprisingly strong character amid the uncomfortable gender landscape. Uhura continues her fun flirtation with Spock, and the two star together in a memorable musical interlude. The episode features the first aired chess match between Kirk and Spock, showcasing the banter that would become iconic for the characters. In a specific improvement over "The Cage," here Kirk actually overcomes Charlie before the Thasians arrive to help (where Pike merely thinks he's winning, just as the Talosians decide for themselves to give up). Even small details are already snapping into place, with this episode (in air order) giving us the first appearance of Kirk's green uniform tunic.

So in all, I want to place this a cut above the episodes so far. But only a small cut. I give "Charlie X" a C.

Enterprise Flashback: Stratagem

Terry Matalas was show runner for the final season of Star Trek: Picard, and served up the grand Next Generation reunion fans had wanted all along. But that wasn't his first work on Star Trek. He was a production assistant for the entire run of Star Trek: Enterprise, and twice was given "story by" credit for contributions to the show. I didn't clock his previous episode when reviewing it, but I'll note the second now as I review "Stratagem."

Archer and the Xindi scientist Degra are aboard a shuttle, having escaped from a prison they've shared for three years. Or so it seems. In truth, the Enterprise crew has staged an elaborate ruse to persuade Degra to reveal where the Xindi weapon is soon to be launched. Can they maintain their elaborate scenario long enough to stay ahead of Degra's suspicions?

I've often flagged the "X days earlier" trope as a weak attempt to manufacture suspense in a story that's otherwise lacking it. I don't think that's an issue in this episode. Here, the flashback makes for a fun bait-and-switch, where the situation we're presented is upended and recontextualized by flashing back in time. It's fun use of the trope, not for its own sake, but in service of toying with the audience.

Except that there's a lot working against the clever idea here. This episode is coming not long after "Twilight," in which Jonathan Archer found himself in an unfamiliar future and suffering from memory loss. To go so quickly back to that story conceit here feels suspicious. Plus there's the episode title itself, priming the audience to question what "stratagem" might be at work here.

But then... it might be that this episode doesn't aim so much to deceive the audience as to put it in Degra's place. Despite very convincing details -- the creepy "blood worm" removal scene, Archer persuading Degra he's set aside their differences -- Degra remains slightly suspicious of his situation, just as we the audience are trying to figure out what's really going on here.

What's going on, we learn, is that Phlox is able to erase the short term memory of Xindi primates, presenting this opportunity to put Degra in a holodeck-style simulation, pre-holodeck. (Instead, we get fun visuals of a "ride simulator"-style contraption assembled in the shuttlebay.) Also, after the audience has perhaps let its guard down, the episode serves up one more twist. When the crew can't be sure of the intel they've collected, they enact one more ruse to trick Degra into verifying it.

I do wish there had been a little more room for character in here somehow. Sometimes Phlox digs in about medical ethics, and other times he's an eager mad scientist -- as he is here with the plan to erase Degra's memory. It would be nice if we had a little more context explaining his shifting attitudes (besides "what the episode needs"). And I wish we got a little more of Archer's mind, since he's in the difficult position. If you had to pretend to be friends with the inventor of a weapon of mass destruction, could you do it? It would have been nice to see "behind the scenes" moments showing his emotional struggle in befriending a monster (or at least, illuminating how he -- a non-actor -- is so effective in deceiving Degra).

Other observation:

• A rare "Reed can be good at his job" moment here, when he successfully focuses weapons fire to knock out the engines of Degra's ship. 

This episode is arguably too centered on plot, and misses moments to build character. But at least the "spycraft" is fun and well-conceived. I give "Stratagem" a B+.

Everything Else Will Be Better

Word has traveled fast, I think, and those of you who knew Chuck Kallenbach will probably not be learning here that yesterday, he passed away. In particular, if you're still a Facebook user, you've probably seen dozens of tributes to him; he was one of those people who inspires that kind of positive outpouring.

I worked with him more than once, at different jobs and in different parts of the country. I played an unfathomable number of board games with him over the years. We traded opinions on movies all the time -- more recently continuing to do so online. He's the sort of person who, once they come into your life, never completely leaves it. And I think that's still going to hold true.

Since hearing the news of his passing, I've found myself thinking most about one particular moment in our past. We were talking about movies -- but not his personal list of the Top 100 Movies. No, the night before, he'd watched what he decided was the worst movie ever made. I regret that I cannot say with certainty whether it was Skidoo or (I'm pretty sure) a short film called 23 Skidoo.

That detail isn't as relevant as his reaction. Where other people (certainly me) would have gone on at length about how horrible the experience was, joking about "the time I'll never get back" (even 8 minutes, in the case of 23 Skidoo), Chuck took a different view: "Once you've seen the worst movie ever made, every other movie you ever see is going to be better." That was it -- don't dwell on what was bad; just move on and know the next thing will be better.

It should be obvious that I've been thinking about this so much in the last 24 hours because it's advice that's in no way particular to movies. I don't even think Chuck intended it as "advice," but then that too is the sort of person he was -- capable of just tossing out a deeply insightful thought like it was nothing.

I hope to carry that with me. 

Enterprise Flashback: Proving Ground

The long story arc of season three of Star Trek: Enterprise meant that many previously ongoing story lines and characters were benched. But then, halfway through the season, the Andorian Shran came back onto the scene with "Proving Ground."

When Enterprise locates the testing site for the new Xindi weapon, mere days from a possible launch, it's clear they must stop it at all costs. Fortunately, they don't have to go alone -- an Andorian ship arrives on the scene, with Shran offering his help. But T'Pol is convinced he has a hidden agenda.

This is a pivotal episode in the Xindi arc, weaving together many elements of past episodes (touched upon in a lengthy "previously on" package at the start of the show). Still, the best parts of the episode aren't our umpteenth scene with the squabbling Xindi council, the hints of something more important to the Expanse's anomalies, or the surprising suggestion that the "endgame" is here when the season is only half over.

No, unsurprisingly, the best part of the show is Jeffrey Combs' return as Shran. He perfectly navigates the balance of "friend" and "foe" in this episode. One moment, he's genuinely bonding with Archer and making good points about how he's here to help when the Vulcans aren't. Not long after, he's reluctantly double-crossing everyone. Along the way, he's providing comic relief as he bluffs the Xindi, and sharing genuine sympathy with Trip over the death of his sister. And it all culminates in a fun showdown that actually makes Archer look clever rather than impulsive.

It's no surprise that a subplot around another Andorian can't measure up. Guest star Molly Brink is fine as the belligerent Talas, but the writers remain determined to paint Malcolm Reed as the least likeable main character in the history of Star Trek. When Talas and Reed butt heads, the latter just comes off as whiny and prickly. That they ultimately bond over both coming from military families feels slightly ironic to me; how did Reed ever come to behave like this with a military upbringing?

Director David Livingston certainly is having fun with this episode, serving up one wild camera setup after another. We get a bird's-eye view of the Xindi council chamber, a frenetically-paced tracking shot along the catwalk in engineering... and a wild appearance of Shran on Enterprise's main viewscreen, his antennae poking up behind the back of Archer's head. Livingston knows it's time to freshen things up a bit, since we've been spending a lot of episodes with the Xindi.

Other observations:

• It's a bit wild to me that Andorian ale is blue like their skin. Maybe Andorians are surprised that humans don't drink pink lemonade all the time. 

• Seriously, the fact that Archer ever ignores T'Pol's advice at this point just reflects badly on him.

Ultimately, I'm more interested in cat-and-mouse games with the Andorians -- and Shran in particular -- than I am about the Xindi arc at this point. But of course, this episode isn't going to pivot the direction of the whole season. I give "Proving Ground" a B.