Strange New Worlds: Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continued its season four genre tour this week. And chances are you knew exactly what this week's genre would be just by glancing at the title: "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass."

Pike awakens in Sickbay to find the ship's entire crew acting in an unusually heightened manner. When Uhura tells him she's his long lost daughter, Pike suspects what's really happening: interference from the unusual godlike alien Enterprise encountered a year earlier. Indeed -- he's back, and running a social experiment on the ant-like humans to impress his elders: turning Enterprise into a soap opera. Spock needs a "living heart transplant" from his twin brother Sybok. Dr. M'Benga must confront his "space madness." And Pike must deal not only with Uhura, but uncover the reason why only he seems aware that he's living in a daytime drama.

I really have just one qualm about this episode: I don't like that they went back to the Trelane well. As fun as Rhys Darby was in the character's previous Strange New Worlds appearance, I'm not at all eager for Strange New Worlds to overuse him in the way that past Star Trek overused the character of Q.

But... if you're going to use Trelane (a Q by any other name, as his last episode established), then you can get away with a lot. He's a dose of fantasy and magic in a fundamentally science fiction show, for all the good and ill that represents. So if you want to do a soap opera episode, you can just do it. No bending over backwards for a sci-fi explanation about why the crew is singing, or turned into Vulcans, or having a "Hangover."

So, having dispensed with the justification? I pretty much give the rest of the episode a 10 out of 10, no notes. The commitment to the bit was complete at every level. The camera work was spot on, from gauzy filters (which even Pike notices) to subtle handheld drift to abrupt crash zooms. The musical score (which again, Pike commented on) absolutely captured the soap opera vibe. The script not only featured over-the-top dialogue, it made sure to repeat that dialogue whenever coming back from a commercial break or intercut scene.

As for the actors? They got it. Genre science fiction is already closer to a soap opera than many fans might like to admit, and it took only the tiniest push for the acting to cross the line. (I think lifting so much Sybok dialogue directly from Star Trek V only underscores the point.) Some of the techniques were hilariously direct, like taking strange pauses and staring off into nowhere (again, commented on by Pike). Some were delightfully subtle, like Uhura's pouty walk as she stormed out. Shaky hands from M'Benga, an eyebrow from Ortegas... all straight from the soap opera playbook. (And let's not overlook the guest star turn from Days of Our Lives stalwart Deidre Hall.)

But the even greater acting accomplishment came in the moments that weren't over-the-top. When Pike finally gets to talk to his "real daughter," I was actually moved -- that quickly, at the climax of a relentlessly comedic episode. Pike's breakdown at the end (opposite Deidre Hall!) was equally powerful. And in perhaps the greatest tightrope act a Star Trek actor has ever walked, Celia Rose Gooding crushed the scene where she talks about the death of her family when she was a teenager: she pulled things back just enough for it to not be silly, but was still emotional enough for it to read as a soap opera performance. (Someone give her a Daytime Emmy.)

Thankfully, they didn't try to pull "it never happened" on us for the second time this season. (Even though "it was all a dream" would have been a tonally perfect soap opera choice.) Letting the characters carry these feelings into the future may pay off in later episodes -- much as this episode paid off for Pike's experiences in previous ones. Once again, Strange New Worlds blends the one-off stories with ongoing story arcs in master fashion.

I give "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass" an A-. It's my favorite episode of the season so far. (Right down to the post-credits gag! Don't touch that "back" button!) 

Don't Overlook the Bay

Most of the shows on Apple TV+ seem to be relying exclusively on word-of-mouth; you hear about them from one of your friends, or you don't hear about them at all. But a recent new show that bucked that trend was Widow's Bay. I didn't finish the series during the hot minute everyone online seemed to be talking about it... but I have now, and better late than never?

Widow's Bay is a titular island town in New England, beset with all kinds of unsettling supernatural evils thanks to a centuries-old curse. That doesn't stop mayor Tom Loftis from pushing to bring more tourism to the island. But after a chain of unexplained and increasingly horrific experiences, he might just start listening to the crackpot Wyck Crawford.

This show is the brainchild of Katie Dippold, one of the writers of Parks and Recreation who has now gone onto a "solo career after the band broke up." That background should help set your expectations, because Widow's Bay is a weirdly funny show. This isn't a horror tale with one or two moments designed to release tension by provoking laughter -- a twisted sense of humor is woven throughout. But the show does also have plenty of straight-up scares and creeping dread. The tone really refuses to be pinned down.

To pull it off, you need a very nimble cast of actors. Fortunately, Widow's Bay has it. Matthew Rhys stars as the mayor. Rhys is one of the handful of true TV stars, a person who has been around for decades and has never gone long without being on a show. This is surely the closest thing to comedy he's ever done... though the show uses him to great effect like the "straight man" in a double act. Also playing somewhat against type is Stephen Root as Crawford. There's something about this "crazy ol' coot" character that comes across even more fun when an accomplished comedian like Root is playing it so earnestly.

But while those two are nominally the stars, there's a long list of secondary characters all perfectly cast with long-working actors (with memorable faces) who totally understand the mixed tone the show is going for: Dale Dickey, Jeff Hiller, K Callan, and more. And one key part of the ensemble is Kate O'Flynn as the mayor's quirky assistant Patricia, who takes the spotlight herself in a key early episode that breaks up the formula you might think the series is settling into.

It's a shame (and a bit mystifying to me) that the show premiered in spring and spooled out weekly episodes into the summer. It would been a much more fitting release to premiere now and unfold over the run-up to Halloween. Then again, it did capture buzz like I said -- which few Apple TV+ shows do. But perhaps if you haven't tried Widow's Bay yourself, this would be the perfect time to start! I give the show a B+. If you liked The X-Files, but wish that that show's most iconic horror and comedy episodes were somehow swirled together in one? It'll be right up your alley.

Strange New Worlds: Off-Hour

Season four of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues with "Off-Hour."

A ship-wide crisis unfolds just as the Alpha crew is going off-duty. Separated all over the ship, they must find a way to escape a slipstream before Enterprise is destroyed. But first they must deal with an electrified bridge, a grisly Sickbay accident, gravity plating malfunctions, sensor failures, dangerous radiation, and more.

For several episodes now, Strange New Worlds has been swerving stylistically each week to push the limits of the stories that can be told on Star Trek. This week's tale is more "typical Star Trek" (indeed, you could compare it to The Next Generation's "Disaster") -- and so perhaps it will be more to the liking of people who haven't enjoyed the swings from horror movie to stoner comedy to film noir to puppet show.

Still, the episode was definitely borrowing visuals from somewhere else. There was no terrorist threat, but this episode was still a clear homage to 24: unfolding in real time, reminding us of the ticking clock, and using plenty of split screen. After four weeks of more elaborate and complete "tributes," I found this sort of surface level mimicry to be somewhat less satisfying.

Yet I wouldn't say the choice to "do 24" added nothing. As I mentioned, this kind of story has been done before on The Next Generation. But on top of several quite different plot elements, "Off-Hour" further differentiates itself with the real-time aspect. Putting the clock on screen might have felt a touch gimmicky, but the sense of urgency was stronger for it.

This episode also felt dangerous. This being a prequel, you can of course know which characters aren't actually able to die here. But from electrical burns to crushed mid-sections to broken legs to extreme irradiation to snapped-off fingers, everything felt life-threatening. And not just because of the grisly makeup and stagecraft to provoke a visceral reaction; even Spock's long crawl along the outer hull felt intense.

It was a strong episode for both Scotty and Chapel, and I thought the pacing did a good job including personal talk between characters without triggering any "why are you stopping to have this conversation right now?!" response in the audience. I particularly enjoyed smaller exchanges between Scotty and A'Sha, Una and La'An, and of course Chapel and M'Benga. But I probably should have watched with the subtitles on. Martin Quinn's real Scottish accent is harder to understand when he's animated than James Doohan's fake one (a fact the episode explicitly joked about.) Babs Olusanmokun's typically soft whisper was softer still thanks to M'Benga's injury. And Carol Kane seems to go broader with every appearance as Pelia.

Some fun nuggets for long-time Trekkers included the slipstream itself being evocative of the wormhole sequence from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the "pod jettison" plot point being lifted from the classic "Court Martial." Plus, of course, there was the return of original ship's doctor Boyce -- who I don't think added much here, but is presumably going to be around for multiple episodes and as part of some larger plan.

Overall, I thought "Off-Hour" was a well-executed thrill ride that balanced tension and character well. I give it a B+.

Strange New Worlds: Level-Five Transporter Accident

For quite a while now, fans of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have known that a "puppet episode" was coming. Those who haven't liked the eclectic genre hopping of season four have no doubt been dreading its arrival. Those who have been more into it (a subset of whom perhaps fondly remember when Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel did its own "puppet episode") have no doubt been more optimistic. In any case, the wait is over; this last week brought us "Level-Five Transporter Accident."

Scotty attempts to break the distance record for a transport, using a childhood puppet as the test subject. But then an accident transports the entire crew, fuses them with the toy in the pattern buffer, and returns them all as puppets. Only Spock, who was alone on a nearby shuttle, is unaffected. Before the crew can solve their problem, Orion pirates attack and seize control of Enterprise. Can the puppet crew regain their ship and their original forms?

There was plenty about this episode that I loved, and quite a bit I found disappointing. Two past episodes of Star Trek loomed large in sifting those two categories. One was a Strange New Worlds episode from season two, "Subspace Rhapsody." I loved that episode, in spite of (or maybe because of) the big swing. The writers made some effort to explain away the absurd premise in Star Trek terms, then just ran with it. It worked. So did the only slightly less absurd cartoon crossover, Freaky Friday, and "Spock becomes human" episodes. I think one of the big reasons was, they just went for it!

I'm spoiling the end of the "puppet episode" here... but this time, they didn't go for it. Instead, they went for an "it was all a dream" cop out. Is that supposed to make people happy who weren't on board with the puppets? They didn't even fully embrace the cop out. If this was all Spock's dream, then it should follow that we see nothing he isn't present for. (But we get several scenes without him.)

The other episode that looms large for me is the one that "Level-Five Transporter Accident" is pretty much straight-up remaking: Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Rascals." A transporter accident does something unthinkable to the characters, something so wild and outside the box that a chunk of the audience is going to just reject the idea outright. In this compromised and distracted state, an enemy you wouldn't normally have to take seriously is able to gain control of the Enterprise. Then, the victims of the transporter accident must learn to embrace what's happened to them to overcome the invaders.

That last bit is crucial to the episode, the thing that keeps it from being a total lark and that makes me like "Rascals" more (a lot more) than I think the average Trek fan does: the affected characters actually learn something from their experience. In "Accident," not only does "it's all a dream" rob us of the growth for every character but the dreamer, the script doesn't have an arc for them. Right away, the puppet characters are cowering behind consoles, engaging in Three Stoogery, and generally acting out of character. That's good for laughs, but it totally undermines the eventual revelation that they must start acting like puppets to get out of this situation; they've been doing that the entire time.

Now, if you wall off all those serious considerations (which the episode itself clearly wanted to do), I have to admit... it was entertaining. More of the jokes worked for me than didn't -- and not just when it came to the puppets. (For example, I loved casting Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Joe Lo Truglio as an affable Orion pirate.) You'd probably think from reading the above that I "harrumphed" my way through this episode... when in fact the opposite was true. I smiled often, laughed occasionally, and generally enjoyed it.

And of course, a large part of the reason why was that the puppetry was pretty great. Fantastic design from The Jim Henson Company captured the essence of each character in felt form. Amped-up vocal performances from the cast tapped into the unhinged vibe. The puppeteers did fantastic work. And Ethan Peck excelled as this Muppet Show's human "guest star."

So yeah, I did rather like this episode. I just didn't like that it didn't go all-in on what it set out to be, and was a bit disappointed that what it set out to be was "Rascals" remade. I give "Level-Five Transporter Accident" a B. I imagine that might be a rare lukewarm opinion between more prevailing white-hot and ice-cold takes, but there you have it.

Strange New Worlds: A Case of Chiaroscuro

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to bring us a new show every week (almost a completely new show) with "A Case of Chiaroscuro."

Una, M'Benga, and Uhura are sent on a shuttle mission at the edge of Klingon space -- in a region where stellar radiation flattens the visible color spectrum to black and white. When they're forced to set down on inhabited planet, they must disguise themselves as locals to blend in among a Klingon occupation. But for Una, "blending in" isn't an option; she is mistaken for the leader of a dissident movement and is quickly drawn into its plans. Meanwhile, aboard Enterprise, La'An investigates potential tampering with a spy probe.

I felt it necessary to post my thoughts on Spider-Noir before getting to a review of this episode -- because I'm quite sure that watching that series affected the way I received this installment of Strange New Worlds. After I'd watched Spider-Noir brilliantly thread the needle of poking a little fun at film noir conventions while simultaneously honoring them, I couldn't help but feel that this episode was not that. Put simply, there's more to film noir than putting on a certain kind of costume and filming in black and white. That's where "A Case of Chiaroscuro" fell short for me.

The "A plot" of this episode is an interesting storyline for Una: as she reminds the audience, she has a lot of experience pretending to be something she's not... but this time she's doing it for a cause bigger than herself. And with a backdrop of opposing a totalitarian regime, the story has topical echoes that are ripe for Star Trek to tackle. Throw in some solid moments for Dr. M'Benga and Uhura (particularly between the two of them), and you've got the makings of a decent episode.

But the thing is... it's not film noir. Actually, it's Casablanca. This isn't a beat for beat remake of that classic film, but you can clearly see where character roles, story elements, and visuals are inspired directly by that movie. (Perhaps never more so than the scene where locals in the bar start up a beloved song to drown out interlopers.) Casablanca is, of course, a black and white film. But that's just a consequence of when it was made; that doesn't make it a film noir. 

Indeed, it's the "B plot" aboard the Enterprise that tracks more closely to the elements of a true film noir. La'An is a detective trying to get to the bottom of a mystery. She sees a larger conspiracy in a place where "the authorities" have dismissed it. She uncovers the truth and learns that things aren't... (ahem)... black and white. Force this analogy past the breaking point, and maybe Spock is some kind of "femme fatale" figure who betrays the detective (by not believing in her)?

Yeah, this doesn't quite fit the film noir formula either... possibly because it feels a bit thin. Still, it highlights the jumble I felt in this episode's conception. Down on the planet you have the fedoras, the suits, the Dutch angles, the deep shadows... all the visual trappings. Up on the ship you have the actual mystery, the questioning suspects, the uncovering of a deeper plot... and none of the visual trappings. "A Case of Chiaroscuro" is nominally the episode where "Strange New World does film noir." Yet it doesn't. It prepares all the ingredients for a meal and then leaves them separate on the counter without cooking.

Yet even though I found the episode to be somewhat disappointing, I didn't think it was bad. As I mentioned earlier, I think all three main characters on the planet had interesting moments. And there was also fun in getting a (p)return of a classic Klingon character, Kor -- and getting to actually see his "mind sifter," which up until now had been mentioned only in one classic Star Trek episode to never be spoken of again.

Overall, I give "A Case of Chiaroscuro" a B-. It might be an example showing that, thanks to its great cast, Strange New Worlds will still be decent even when it stumbles.

Black and White, but Not Plain

Like most people who saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I was entertained by the parade of increasingly unusual parallel universe heroes. But did that mean I was clamoring for an eight-episode television spin-off about Spider-Noir, the film noir inspired character voiced by Nicolas Cage? Not really. And yet, that Spider-Verse movie itself had come at a time where there was no shortage of Spider-Man movies, when "no one had asked for this," and it had turned out to be really good. Could that history repeat itself with a new TV series?

Set in a crime-ridden 1930s New York, Spider-Noir follows private investigator Ben Reilly. Devastated by the loss of a loved one, he's hung up his superhero alter ego, The Spider. But when superpowered villains begin to terrorize the city, he must step up once again.

I'm sure I've blogged this many times -- so at the risk of repeating myself: I don't really care for film noir. I've watched a lot of the classic movies of the genre, and found only a couple that I enjoyed. Generally, I think they're too cliché, from the performative accents to the mandatory character archetypes to the formulaic plots. I was sure that's what I was in for Spider-Noir.

It turns out: I was, but in all the best ways. The developer and show runner of the series, Oren Uziel, clearly knows all the trappings of film noir -- and clearly loves them dearly. Well, no one can do parody quite like a person who deeply knows and loves the thing they're parodying. Spider-Noir isn't a straight-up Mel Brooks-style joke fest poking fun at a genre... but it is a show that knowingly turns the film noir cliches up to 11 and doesn't quite play everything straight.

And if you ask me, that's a perfect thing to fuse into the superhero genre. "Taking everything super-seriously" is about the only way a superhero movie or show gets made these days; even when the results are supposed to be a little funny and irreverent, they almost always turn serious for the big climax. But all the while, there's a fundamental over-the-topness to comics that edges oh-so-close to silly. And it turns out that for me, putting that together with the same qualities of film noir was like mixing peanut butter and chocolate.

Better still was casting Nicolas Cage in the lead role. This was, of course, no casting coup; Cage voiced the character for Into the Spider-Verse. But it's hardly a given that a man in his early 60s would be the smart choice to play a romantic lead and superhero on an action-adventure show. Here's where I confess that however skeptical I am of most film noir, I'm doubly so of a performance by Nicolas Cage. That's because I find him broad to the point of self-parody. But as I just covered, that is exactly the tone of Spider-Noir: it dances right along the line of making fun of itself, occasionally putting a toe on the other side of that line only to playfully drag it back. In that recipe, an over-the-top Nicolas Cage performance suddenly feels like exactly the right ingredient.

He's one "ingredient" among several in the cast that I think works great. Karen Rodriguez is fantastic as the takes-no-guff assistant to private investigator Ben Reilly. Lamorne Morris is quite funny as his reporter best friend. Filling the noir-required roles of the heavy and femme fatale are are a wonderfully menacing Brendan Gleeson and effectively alluring Li Jun Li. Those are just my favorites; the bench of superpowered villains are a lot of fun too.

In the end, much to my surprise, I quite loved Spider-Noir, and give it an A-. Two final notes on it. One, it's a perfectly packaged little mini-series, and I find myself hoping they don't actually try to make more. Two, you can view it either in full color or in moody and authentic black-and-white. I did the latter, only checking out a minute of how it looked in color when all was said and done. (Wrong, wrong, wrong. Don't do it.) Indeed, Spider-Noir may have set a bar high enough to make me enjoy this summer's Spider-Man movie a bit less.

Strange New World: Human Best Friend

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues its model of weekly tonal upheaval in its latest episode, "Human Best Friend."

In need of rest and rejuvenation ahead of important peace talks, the crew of the Enterprise heads for shore leave on a resort planet with an atmosphere that induces intoxicating effects. Though most of them head off on their own separate journeys, Scotty and Ortegas are forced work through their personal differences and pair up: they must trace what happened to them during an overnight blackout and locate a missing shuttle.

This episode might be the most "Lower Decks" feeling episode of Strange New Worlds since the one that actually featured characters from Star Trek: Lower Decks. The hijinks are as broad as ever and the tone is relentlessly silly. Dave Foley from The Kids in the Hall is here to underline that fun is the mission in this mashup of The Hangover with Dude, Where's My Car? And since Lower Decks is my other favorite Star Trek series of the modern era, I'm totally here for this.

The thing I found revelatory about Lower Decks is that it was genuinely funny. Almost every series in the Star Trek franchise has taken a run at a comedic episode on occasion, but the results are usually mixed. At best, they can be quite fun and can put a smile on your face... but are rarely laugh out loud funny in the way the best sitcoms are. Lower Decks was consistently laugh out loud funny. And so was "Human Best Friend."

I was the "Leonardo DiCaprio pointing" meme when Doctor M'Benga declared of his drink: "It's green." I tittered at Anson Mount's hilarious take on drunk Pike. I snickered every time Spock saw Ortegas as a cactus. (The "special sauce" on that joke being that she always raised her hands right before we saw Spock's POV.) I belly laughed at Ethan Peck's delivery of Spock's reply to being told he didn't look drunk: "absurd!" I snorted at all the spins Celia Rose Gooding put on the word "journey" as Uhura resisted anyone trying to harsh the vibes of her party.

A good friend of mine who never quotes movies or TV texted me this week: "They stole my eyeballs!"

I gather from some of the response online that many viewers aren't into tonal whiplash this extreme -- or at a minimum, not something this zany on the heels of an episode that was straight-up horror. But I love that in an age of television that forces you to binge-view almost everything, Strange New Worlds is a series best not binged, putting some breathing room between each installment to reset expectations.

My expectations this time were well and truly satisfied. I give Human Best Friend an A-. I certainly don't want Strange New Worlds to be this every week. But when it decides to be, this is exactly what I want.

Strange New Worlds: The Griffin Incident

While I was away at Gen Con, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds served up a new episode that I was hearing really polarized the audience. I was eager to get back and see for myself what the debate was all about... and I found out when I watched "The Griffin Incident."

Returning to Enterprise in a shuttlecraft, James T. Kirk, Spock, and La'An discover a derelict Federation ship, the Griffin, which has been missing for years. When they board the Griffin to investigate, they find a dark and haunted ship where unexplained phenomenon are increasingly common. When the trio is separated, each one is subjected to intense hallucinations -- or are they hallucinations? -- striking at the heart of their own self doubts.

Star Trek has always been a franchise that mixes other genres into science fiction for unique one-off episodes... though with modern Star Trek not generally being a place for "one-off" storytelling, Strange New Worlds is the only series that's really been able to play with this. Over the years, as Star Trek has served up comedies, romances, westerns, and more, it has given us the occasional horror-tinged episode. (Strange New Worlds itself already did one, in fact.)

But horror itself has subgenres of its own -- and some of those were previously out of reach for Star Trek, a show airing on prime time network television. "The Griffin Incident" is free of those restrictions, and so we get to find out what Star Trek can do when it brings in elements of body horror. That's the most "you like it or you don't" of all the horror sub-genres... hence the polarizing reaction to the episode that I heard about.

I found the episode to be a bit mixed, but generally positive overall. On a technical and production level, it felt nearly flawless. Director Axelle Carolyn showed a deep understanding of horror, giving us great jump scares, moments of creeping dread, and visceral chills and thrills. Yes, this was a money-saving episode, using existing sets and a minimal cast after the super-expensive season premiere. But it didn't feel cheap with the effective dark lighting, creepy viewscreen graphics, and pitch perfect camera work.

Smartly, the story was also very much about psychological horror. The dangers faced weren't general, but specifically directed at La'An, Spock, and Kirk. I thought that was the right approach, even if not all three of the stories were maximally effective. Spock's gave us the most intense horror moments, from creeping dread with body bags (even if Beverly Crusher did experience that decades ago) to unsettling mutilations (Spock's ears; Chef Pike). And yet, Spock's story was fundamentally about the internal turmoil of his Vulcan and human sides, very familiar territory that this series and the original have both mined before.

La'An's story comes at the right time for her character, seizing on her very current self-doubts and magnifying them in horrific ways. But in the end, you might argue that she doesn't really emerge changed or informed by her ordeal. Certainly, the audience doesn't learn anything new about what's up with her.

The most effective story (at least in my eyes) was the one for Kirk. Playing on his insecurities about his son David was a fun dive into previously unexplored territory for the character. We've known David (and his mother Carol) are out there somewhere; Strange New Worlds has even mentioned it before. But we've never really examined Kirk's feelings about it all, outside of the movie that introduced David. Horror movies have done a lot with creepy noises from children, and this episode draws on that tradition. Perhaps the most effective moment of all (or, at least, the solid shout-out for long-time Trek fans) came when Kirk's very specific fear about what might happen to David some day is said aloud; this does what good prequels do, backfilling events we know with new emotional context.

Besides the extent of the violence in this episode, one other polarizing element is surely the way it ends: without any scientific explanation or resolution for anything we've seen. It could actually have been ghosts, for all we know. I know that this is also very much tradition for a certain kind of horror movie, but I personally find it a less satisfying element to port into Star Trek. The ending fundamentally felt more like The X-Files than Star Trek to me.

But as I said, there's more "positive" in my mixed reaction than not. I give "The Griffin Incident" a B.  

Strange New Worlds: Valles Marineris

It appears that the modern incarnation of Star Trek -- a nearly decade-long run of overlapping television series of a variety the franchise has never known before -- is coming to an end soon, a victim of corporate consolidation and meddling. But there are still a few more filmed episodes of television working their way through post-production, and we're now getting some of them with the return of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. It kicked off season four this past week with "Valles Marineris."

The Enterprise is critically damaged by an interstellar phenomenon, and transported to an unknown part of space. After a shuttle crew departs for a nearby planet to collect vital resources, the ship is captured by aliens. Pike must convince their militaristic leader of Starfleet's peaceful intentions. But once it becomes clear where Enterprise has really been taken, he must engage in a subterfuge that is sure to fuel the aliens' distrust.

It's kind of impossible to talk about this episode without getting into spoiler territory, so here's your warning to back out now if you haven't seen it. It's an episode that risks being almost goofy in taking on such a wild, big story -- that Enterprise has been taken to Earth 65 million years in the past, to a time of dinosaurs and interstellar Martians.

Frankly, the episode sometimes is a bit goofy. Number One stunning a T-Rex might be one of the wildest things Star Trek has ever presented... at least, until 15 minutes later when La'An straight up punches a velociraptor in the face. The not-terribly-veiled reference to Doctor Who made earlier in this episode feels right at home; it feels to me like just the sort of "not quite taking this seriously" sort of storytelling you get from that show.

Except... Strange New Worlds mostly does take this story seriously. Despite those Doctor Who-like trappings, the core story here is Star Trek through and through, an examination of the opposing ideas of cooperation and suspicion. And it all culminates in a classic science fiction paradox to tickle the brain. (Or... does it begin with one?!) Yeah, it's edging "almost silly" again to explain the barrenness of Mars, the extinction of the dinosaurs, and the existence of our solar system's asteroid belt all in one fell swoop. But the earnestness with which Strange New Worlds generally approaches it all pulls me along for the ride.

Along the way, there's effective and subtle acting from Anson Mount -- particularly opposite guest star Saffron Burrows. Ongoing threads of character building are woven into the self-contained story of the episode, as this series always does so well. And the production values feel just sky high. There was a time where a slow-motion horseback ride through a vast alien landscape would be the major centerpiece for an entire episode. Here, it's only an amuse-bouche before an episode that gives us a dangerous space cloud, a planet's destruction, and... did I mention the dinosaurs?

Strange New Worlds remains my easy favorite of the live action modern Star Trek series. I'm grinning ear to ear to be getting more of it. I give "Valles Marineris" a B+. 

The Stars Come Out

For All Mankind -- a show I absolutely raved about in its first and second seasons -- just came off its fifth and arguably weakest season. Less arguable: the alternate history show has been losing steam whenever it has drifted more into colonial allegory and away from space exploration. It feels like a show that really needs to get back to its roots for its upcoming final season.

Ironically, getting back to the show's roots is the elevator pitch for what's going on over on Star City. This spin-off series rewinds the clock to the first crewed moon landing of 1969 -- in this universe achieved by the Soviet Union, rather than the Americans. Star City also follows how the world unfolds differently under these alternate circumstances -- this time, from the Soviet perspective. But that simple description doesn't tell the full story of Star City. At least, not unless you immediately think very deeply about what "the Soviet perspective" might be.

Star City feels like a gritty Cold War thriller -- John le Carré by way of Dostoevsky. It's a show that zigs at almost every opportunity where For All Mankind zagged. Where the parent show filled in the space around outer space with family drama, the spin-off fills it with tense, paranoia-driven espionage. Where Mankind serves up a pristine digital picture, Star City is made to look like a grainy film print perhaps only recently dug up from some archive. Where Mankind fills out its cast of characters with civilians near the space program, Star City does so with the KGB operatives spying on their own people to keep everyone in line.

Nor is Star City content to simply retell major events of For All Mankind from a new point of view. Much of season one centers on previously unknown events in this alternate timeline. This deftly allows viewers to come onto this new show even if they haven't seen the first, and keeps fans of the original from knowing exactly where the new story is headed.

The acting is tightly restrained on this show, in keeping with the Cold War Soviet setting. Thus, it's harder to praise compared to many TV shows where the characters are showy and outwardly emotional. Still, there's solid work here from many performers. Rhys Ifans is the "chief designer" of the Soviet space program, and is no stranger to this sort of "palace intrigue" after House of the Dragon. Anna Maxwell Martin plays a delightfully detestable villain, the head of the KGB surveillance department within the space program. Two actors have the interesting challenge of playing characters we meet "later" in For All Mankind, Agnes O'Casey and Josef Davies; both give interesting hints of the performances of the other actors without being beholden to mere impersonation.

To be blunt, Star City didn't grab hold of me immediately, the way For All Mankind did. Still, I eventually found myself more deeply engaged than I have by the parent show since at least season three. By the very cliffhangery ending of the eight-episode season, I definitely wanted to see what comes next. (Sadly, no word yet on a season two.) I give Star City a B+, continuing the streak that almost every series I've ever watched on Apple TV+ is worth the time.

Enterprise Flashback: Divergence

When last we left Enterprise, the ship was locked at warp speed and careening toward destruction. Time to resolve that cliffhanger with "Divergence."

Trip returns from Columbia to avert a catastrophe aboard Enterprise, putting both ships in the line of fire on the hunt to rescue Phlox. Trip is forced to confront his unresolved feelings for T'Pol, and Reed is forced to come clean with Captain Archer about the secretive organization sending him covert orders. Meanwhile, Phlox is driven to ever more extreme measures to cure a Klingon contagion.

Star Trek was making two-part episodes since the original series, but the fact that Enterprise had served up so many three-part episodes in season four makes this return to two-part form actually feel like a breaking of convention. Where the three-part format had allowed for unexpected twists in a story (such as introducing the Aenar) there's really no room here but to catch all the many balls already being juggled from part one. I'd say it does catch them all, even if the performance doesn't end with any grand flourish.

I'm still gobsmacked that the writers decided to explain the changing appearance of Klingons on-screen. You could certainly argue that this exactly the kind of subtext that should never be made text. (Will someone now have to retcon everything to explain the third look for Klingons introduced in Star Trek: Discovery?) But having made the decision to do so, they do mine the story for good drama. It's interesting to see Phlox's particular sense of medical ethics (already not entirely that of humans) clash with the Klingons he's forced to work with. For long time Trekkers, it's perhaps even more interesting to probe the mind of a Klingon bioengineer: what even makes him tick? (An intriguing back story of guilt.)

In talking about part one, I appreciated the writers' belated effort to rehabilitate the character of Malcolm Reed by making him a secret operative for Section 31. I still generally think that's true... though the only real way to resolve that story in a part two is to have Reed gain the upper hand on his superiors. That's hard to square with the hapless character we've known for three-and-a-half seasons. For Deep Space Nine fans in particular, it's hard to downgrade from the "always three moves ahead" machinations of the operative Sloan to the sad ineptitude of this Harris guy. He gets bested by Reed, double-crossed by the Klingons, and generally comes off like the guy who almost let Section 31 end on his watch.

I still find the "will they / won't they" story line for Trip and T'Pol to be the least compelling aspect of the narrative. But fortunately, it isn't given much time here. Instead, Trip stays aboard Enterprise "temporarily" at the end of the episode, kicking the can down the road.

That leaves plenty of time -- mostly at the beginning and end of the episode -- for the sorts of action sequences that are core to Star Trek: Enterprise. The wild "Speed"-like premise that the Enterprise can't slow down does kick things off with a wild sequence of Trip spacewalking his way between the ships. The CG isn't always great, but the thrills still generally land. And the climactic rescue of Phlox is a fun 3-on-2 fight between Starfleet and Klingons.

Other observations:

• When Phlox beams a virus aboard the Klingon ship to threaten them by withholding the cure... how did he get through the Klingon shields? 

• There's fun makeup at the end of the episode, between Archer's subtle Klingon ridges and Antaak's transformation into a classic-style "human-looking Klingon."

Part twos on Star Trek are rarely as good as part ones, and "Divergence" is no exception. Still, it's hardly a letdown, and does a pretty good job of resolving all its story threads. I give it a B.

Enterprise Flashback: Affliction

The fourth season of Star Trek: Enterprise was made up mostly of multi-episode story arcs that leveraged the series' prequel nature by delving into the vast "canon" of the franchise. Creatively, it was a successful pivot for the show... so the writers took on the highest "degree of difficulty" yet in the two-parter beginning with "Affliction."

The Klingons have been experimenting with genetic engineering, using samples of human Augment DNA... with disastrous consequences. Desperate to undo the damage, Klingon agents abduct Phlox to force his assistance. Enterprise sets out to locate and rescue their doctor. Yet it appears that Malcolm Reed may be secretly working against them for unknown reasons. Meanwhile, Trip tries to fit in at his new assignment aboard the starship Columbia.

I think you'd have to be the most "well, actually..." of Star Trek fans to have ever cared why Klingons went from looking like shoe-polish-faced humans in spandex and disco pants (on the original series) to turtle-ridged, armor-clad warriors (in the movies and beyond). The movies simply had more time and money to throw at the aliens, and The Next Generation (and the shows that followed) were passed the baton. The closest we'd ever get to an "in-universe" explanation for the change was a curt joke from Worf in the middle of a comedic episode.

Right?

Wrong! Manny Coto and Michael Sussman decided to devote a two-part episode to explaining the difference. And the explanation -- that Klingons once toyed with genetic engineering, using human DNA -- kinda works! It even goes a long way to explaining why Klingons hated humans for so long, while subtly reinforcing one Klingon commander's assertion that humans and Klingons aren't really so different. We get all of this, the most dangerous looking targ yet seen on Star Trek, Klingon characters played by actors John Schuck and James Avery, fun references to deep cut history like the Hur'q (established in Deep Space Nine), and a fantastic action sequence about an assault team boarding Enterprise. Really... hats off all around.

But we're just getting started! In this same two-part episode, the writers undertake the task of "fixing" the show's indisputably worst character, Malcolm Reed. Unlike Hoshi Sato and Travis Mayweather, who are generally just underused, Reed has been actively bad almost every time he's given something to do in an episode -- bad at his job, ranging from socially awkward at best to creepy at worst, whiny and self-centered. Now we find out, he's actually an undercover secret agent! And once you get over the initial shock of wondering what value a covert organization would find in Malcolm Reed, it kind of starts to make sense. Hell, it might even explain some of Reed's buffoonery over the years. Was this part of maintaining his cover? Were some of his stupid mistakes actually deliberate orders from his shadowy organization?

In a bit of catnip for Deep Space Nine fans like me, the secret organization is revealed to be Section 31. Well... it's never stated outright, which is good. That avoids turning this into a Marvel Cinematic Universe style demand to "do the required viewing" before being able to understand the story here. This is just a winking nod for those who know, that feels like it should be pretty seamless for those who don't. It's certainly a better showing for Section 31 than poor Michelle Yeoh was given.

I'd call all of that more than enough for a super-compelling two-part episode of Star Trek. Unfortunately, the episode doesn't stop there. It also has to reckon with the ongoing story coming out of the last episode, that Trip has changed assignments and is now aboard the Columbia. As I commented on that episode, I've reached the end of my interest in the "Jim and Pam on The Office"-like tribulations between T'Pol and Trip. I felt impatient in each of this episode's repetitive Trip scenes. (T'Pol: "Are you leaving because of me?" Trip's new captain: "Why did you leave?" T'Pol in some mindmeld/dreamscape: "I thought you were leaving.") I feel like the most interesting thing this subplot has to offer is a return cameo appearance by Seth MacFarlane -- who gets quite a few more lines here.

It all builds to the most explicit cliffhanger Enterprise has served up in a while, a Speed-like contrivance of a catastrophe in which the Enterprise must maintain high warp or it will explode. Will Keanu Reeves show up to save the day? Probably not... but tune in next week just in case!

Other observations:

• This isn't really a "Hoshi" episode, but she nonetheless has some good moments in the story. First, she does her best to put up a fight when she and Phlox are attacked in the beginning. Then she "goes under hypnosis" (mindmeld style) with T'Pol to retrieve her memories of the event. In the aftermath of that mindmeld, she even pokes up in the Trip/T'Pol story for a moment.

• The redress of the Enterprise bridge to serve as the Columbia bridge is kinda fun. It doesn't really make sense to put these weird columns right where people need to walk (what, are they load-bearing?) but you can instantly tell you're on a different ship.

• I think my picture at the top of this post actually comes from "part two" of this two-parter. But it felt appropriately representative. 

The high-school-romance-drama of Trip/T'Pol detracts for me, but I otherwise find this a really strong episode that does "prequel" right. I give "Affliction" a B+.

Star Trek: Errand of Mercy

Long, long before Klingons were portrayed as a noble warrior race, or fixated on honor -- and before writer Gene L. Coon could have conceived that Klingons would have more life beyond the script he was rushing to finish that week -- we had "Errand of Mercy."

The Enterprise arrives at the planet Organia shortly ahead of a Klingon invasion, and Captain Kirk is determined to persuade them to stand against it. But the non-technological, stalwartly pacifist Organians are utterly unmoved by Kirk's argument. When the Enterprise is chased away by a Klingon attack, Kirk and Spock must live in cover amongst the Organians. Will the evil Klingon captain Kor see through their ruse? And is there more to the Organians than meets the eye?

This is the first appearance of the Klingons in Star Trek, and to any Trekker who came of age in the era of Next Generation and its spinoffs, there's very little that's recognizable about them. The differences are more than skin-deep -- though to be sure, these Klingons sport (instead of ridges) a slapdash "shoe polish" makeup that inches uncomfortably close to the line of offense. Kor delights in torture, orders mass executions on a whim, and is constantly relying on a "mind sifter" technology we never hear of again. These Klingons, quite plainly, are a villain of the week.

I would point to two reasons the Klingons had life beyond this single episode. One is the way the story ends: the promise that one day, Klingons and the Federation would be fast friends. That's a classic bit of Star Trek morality, and you can't help but want to see that come to pass. (As a bonus, that ending comes after an episode in which we get multiple, classic "we're not so different, you and I" comparisons between Kirk and this bitter enemy.)

The other reason is the performance of actor John Colicos. Kor is not written with subtlety, and Colicos doesn't really bring any to the part. But he plays the villain with a gleeful relish that's just plain fun to watch. (I mean, listen to how he says "vegetable.") The story goes that the Star Trek writers tried twice to bring the character back, but conflicts in Colicos' schedule forced them to create other Klingon captains in his place. Sci-fi fans would have to wait about a decade for Battlestar Galactica to come along and give us Baltar, a regular source of Colicos' winking evil camp. We may not have gotten to see Kor again on the original Star Trek, but he sure did make audiences want to see more Klingons.

The episode does have its shortcomings. It strains belief that Kirk -- and especially Spock -- are utterly incurious about how one of the Organian council members seems to know where the Klingons are without consulting any device, or how the leader Ayelborne manages to free them from prison. I also think it's a shame (though clearly a budgetary necessity) that we don't get to see much of Sulu in command of the Enterprise when he's forced to abandon the landing party.

Also -- to me, this episode feels uncomfortably close to "Arena." Fundamentally, both stories are about Starfleet and an alien enemy at each other's throats until some god-like beings swoop in to teach them both a lesson. At least this time, you do get John Colicos instead of a lizard suit, and that tantalizing "fast friends" ending. 

Other observations:

• "Curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want." That's just a really great line. Even though the most famous line from this episode -- for any child of the 80s, at least -- is Spock's "pure energy," sampled by Information Society for their song "What's on Your Mind."

• Scotty isn't in this episode. (Hence, Sulu taking command.) More strangely, neither is McCoy. (He would be in every remaining episode of the series, though.)

• Allegedly, the baldric worn by Kor in this episode is the exact one that was spruced up and used for Worf in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. If not literally true, it's clearly at least the inspiration. 

• Spock's ultra-precise stating of the odds feels like a direct touchstone for The Empire Strikes Back. 

Star Trek can hardly be blamed for the Klingons not arriving on the scene fully-formed. "Errand of Mercy" was a story for a particular place and time. But the fact that Klingons changed so much from what we got here maybe highlights the shortcomings of the episode. I give it a B-.

Enterprise Flashback: The Aenar

Right at the end of Star Trek: Enterprise's "Romulan espionage" trilogy, the writers threw a big Andorian curveball with "The Aenar."

A brain scan reveals that the pilot of a mysterious, marauding drone ship is Andorian. But not exactly, clarifies Shran -- it's an Aenar, a telepathic minority who live outside Andorian society. So Shran leads Archer and his crew to Andoria, where they hope to find out who is responsible for these raids, and how to stop them.

Andorians were an interesting species for Enterprise to explore. Their very brief appearances in prior Star Trek series gave very little to work with -- certainly not the "we're all about one thing" cliches that drove more popular adversaries like the Klingons and Romulans. Over three-plus years, the Enterprise writers managed to flesh out a more-rounded-than-usual-for-Star-Trek culture that, with the help of Jeffrey Combs as Shran, became one of the better aspects of the show.

Now here, they double down by inventing the Aenar, an interesting subculture -- blind, telepathic pacifists. It's a rather delicate threading of a needle for Enterprise; I find the Aenar unusual without being unknowable, and powerful without being a throwback to the dozens of god-like species of classic Star Trek. And as we learn about them, we actually learn new details about Shran's past. I'm not thrilled that Shran gets a bit flirty with one of the Aenar; she seems too young, and he's just lost someone he loved. But aside from that detail, I find everything about this thread in the episode to be interesting. In particular, the story that emerges between brother and sister has surprising pathos for not having been set up in the episodes leading up to this.

But I find the rest of the episode a bit rough. T'Pol and Trip seem like they should be past the point of "hiding from each other" as they do here, and I'm growing tired of the rom-com-like "will they, won't they" dynamic. The latest artificial obstacle to their relationship -- his decision to transfer to another starship -- is just a total groaner.

And there is... So. Much. Villain-splaining. They have a villain moot to complain about how their plot against diplomacy has only led their alien adversaries to grow closer. They bicker about how hard they can push their captive pilot. The leader of the scheme monologues about his days as a senator, his downfall, and how this is all just to reclaim his power. It feels far too late to be trying to empathize with this mustache twirler.

Other observation:

• Many fun visuals in this episode, from the Aenar's mushroom-like underground city, to strange burrowing ice worms, to even just the surface of Andoria. Even the omnipresent Star Trek caves get a glow-up.

I like a lot of elements in this episode. As a wrap-up of the trilogy as a whole, I find it a bit lacking. I give "The Aenar" a B overall.

Star Trek Flashback: The Devil in the Dark

Some people poke fun at Star Trek by pointing out that no matter where they explore in the galaxy, they find aliens that look like humans with bumpy foreheads. But that's not always the case, as demonstrated with the well-known original series episode "The Devil in the Dark."

When a "monster" threatens a mining operation on a remote planet, the Enterprise is dispatched to help. But Kirk, Spock, and company discover a creature with all-too-relatable motives, who may itself be the one who needs help.

I imagine not too many people outside Star Trek fandom know of the Horta, but it looms large within the fandom. As "rubber suits" go, it isn't much more credible than a "salt vampire" or a Gorn; it's part "Pizza the Hut" and part shag carpet. But director Joseph Pevney knows what all good horror directors know: showing the monster less early on makes it scarier. (Even if the parade of miners giving us screaming reaction shots aren't top notch.) It's all just credible enough that, when featured in a solid story like this one, it works. (It "breathes!" It skitters!) And this is a solid story. You might be ahead of "twist" and anticipate that this Horta is protecting its young, but it's a classic star Trek morality play to say that all life, no matter how alien, will have some relatable motives.

There are a few stumbles along the way. I can't understand why the Horta steals the valuable reactor part when it could just use its acid to destroy it. Kirk and Spock switch opinions a bit too quickly and without apparent cause -- one wanting to kill the Horta and the other wanting to save it, then vice versa. I've also recently mentioned that I'm growing a bit tired of convenient mindmelds, and this one may be the most deus ex machina-like yet. (But then, maybe they wouldn't keep going to mindmelds if Leonard Nimoy could hit every pitch thrown at him. Not many actors could scream about "pain!" without it being a laugh line.)

While Spock gets the showiest character moments, he's not the only one who shines in this episode. McCoy is at his most irascible ("I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer"), but then is able to heal a life form he doubted could even exist minutes earlier -- and is charmingly pleased with himself in the aftermath. Scotty's improvised patch on the reactor is able to buy the needed time to get to the bottom of the problem. And Kirk gives a rousing speech to an angry mob that is actually able to calm them down!

Other observations:

• This feels like it might be one of the first episodes where the Enterprise is implied to be "something special" and not just "one of many ships" in Starfleet. At least, that's what I take from the fact that miners on some distant world seem to have actually heard of the ship.

• A lot of the one-off crew members to die in season one have actually worn gold or blue shirts. But in this episode, when Kirk addresses an entire lineup of redshirts, you know what's in store for them. (But actually... you don't! They're going to fall for a miner pulling the old "what's that behind you?!" ruse.)

"The Devil in the Dark" does sometimes show its age. But it's also a reminder that Star Trek has always relied on actors selling the hell out of the unbelievable. (The core cast, in this case. Not so much the guest stars.) I give it a B.

Enterprise Flashback: United

The Star Trek: Enterprise trilogy about a Romulan plot to thwart peace continues in "United."

The Romulans continue to use their advanced, remote-piloted ship to attack different species while posing as someone else. But Trip and Reed remain aboard, working to sabotage the drone. Meanwhile, aboard Enterprise, it may not take Romulan meddling to fracture any alliance between the Andorians and Tellarites. Shran demands vengeance through personal combat with a Tellarite dignitary... and the only way Archer can stop it is to join the fight himself.

As I've noted before, it is nice to see Enterprise finally embracing its role as a Star Trek prequel. And there are shovels full of fan service in this episode in particular. But this installment also has big "middle chapter" vibes, doing little to advance the narrative with a third part still to come. Fortunately, it makes up for this with smaller stories for the characters.

Reed and Trip's adventures aboard the Romulan ship are a return to form for the pairing, who always seem to wind up in these sorts of scrapes together. The cat-and-mouse games between them and the Romulan commander they never meet are entertaining. Shock of shocks, Reed is finally shown to be good at his job! A timely phaser set to overload does disable the ship long enough for them to eventually be rescued.

The episode tries to deepen the Romulan aspect of the story by introducing a high-ranking senator who holds the other end of the leash on our scheming commander. I rarely find this sort of bickering between villains to be compelling. But it does give actor Brian Thompson more scenes in the episode, so I'll give it a pass.

But the main story line of the episode belongs to Shran, so much so that Archer has to put two senior officers on researching Andorian customs just to find a way to force himself into it. Make no mistake, what happens to Talas to motivate Shran is pure "fridging," but at least actor Jeffrey Combs is here to take the wheel when you throw him the keys. He manages to thread the needle on all this "honorable combat" stuff in a way that doesn't feel like a reheated Klingon trope, all the while showing Shran's respect for Archer and selling a resolution that somehow makes everything OK.

Archer's brand over three-and-a-half seasons hasn't really been to act like the adult in the room, but it still works to make humans in general the pivot point between all these squabbling aliens. Star Trek has previously done the "we need a network of multiple ships to stop Romulans" story, but it's been long enough to use it again here. And I can't argue with the thematic resonance of the first steps to the Federation being an armada of over 100 different alien ships.

Other observations:

• We also see some Remans in this episode -- another example of Enterprise using stuff from Star Trek: Nemesis because it was handy.

• The wild spins and other maneuvers that the Romulan ship does to avoid enemy fire feel far too extreme for the CG to look realistic.

• "Malcolm, you're such an easy target," says Trip. He's got that right.

This episode ends with a surprise reveal of the Daft Punk-helmeted pilot of the Romulan drone ship... a reveal that's going to send the final episode of the trilogy in a decidedly Andorian direction. Tune in next time. As for "United," I give it a B.

Sports Mockumentary

It doesn't seem like too many people have the Peacock streaming service. But they do occasionally float crazy deals to buy a year's worth of service for the cost of one or two months on some other services. Maybe you caught one of those deals to watch the Olympics earlier this year, and now are open to other things worth checking out as long as you have Peacock. In that spirit, let me suggest The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins.

The title is the premise. Reggie Dinkins is a former professional football player now trying to rehabilitate his image, decades after his career ended in disgrace. He's invited an eccentric documentary filmmaker into his life to film everything, from his ex-wife (also his manager) to his new young fiancée, to his teenage son and a former teammate who lives in his house. Hijinks ensue.

This half-hour sitcom comes from Robert Carlock and Sam Means, who between the two of them have extensive writing credits on 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and more. If you enjoyed any of those shows, it's hard to imagine you wouldn't like this new one. Familiar "mockumentary" tropes are once again in service of a fun cast of characters.

However, if you're like me, the main star of the show might actually be one of your least favorite things about it. Tracy Morgan stars as Reggie Dinkins -- and if you've seen him on 30 Rock or Saturday Night Live, you know exactly what he's like on this show because he just seems to always play "himself." But the premise of this show almost positions him as the ringmaster around which the rest of the circus whirls, and it's a really funny cast.

 I had just finished watching Erika Alexander in a dramatic recurring role on the "can't believe I'm still watching this" Invasion, and was delighted to see how funny she was (with better material) here. Relative new faces Precious Way and Jalyn Hall keep up with more established comedians like Bobby Moynihan, and a parade of guest stars including Craig Robinson, Heidi Gardner, Anna Camp, and Ronny Chieng. But seemingly having the most fun is Daniel Radcliffe as documentary filmmaker Arthur Tobin. He's played in this sort of tongue-in-cheek space before, but his character is sharper here, as is the comedy.

This being an actual network show, the episodes are a breezy 30 minutes minus commercials. This also being a streaming show, it's a brisk 10 episodes. The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins isn't a show to make you get Peacock... but it's a pretty fun use of time if you're already there. I give it a B+.

Enterprise Flashback: Babel One

After hundreds and hundreds of Star Trek episodes across multiple franchises, many pillars of "canon" had become a bit flexible and open to interpretation. But one of the few absolutely inviolable elements of Star Trek lore was that, until the events of the classic episode "Balance of Terror," no one had ever seen what a Romulan looked like. This restriction for the prequel series Enterprise never led its writers to bend over backwards more than they did for the trilogy that began with "Babel One."

When Shran's ship is destroyed by Tellarites, the burgeoning alliance led by the humans threatens to crumble. But when evidence suggests the Tellarites were framed for the attack, the question soon becomes, who does control this powerful, chameleon-like ship that's marauding through space?

If you actually watch "Balance of Terror" (which I've done recently, in my re-watch of the original series), you learn all kinds of things that don't really track with the Romulans of subsequently-produced Star Trek. They're a noble race with overt imperialist tendencies. They have slow-moving ships with powerful weapons. And yes, no one has seen a Romulan and lived to tell the tale. That last detail about the Romulans is practically the only one that sticks.

And "Babel One" really strains credulity when it comes to Romulans. Here, their super-powerful ship has advanced holographic technology that can masquerade as another ship, is too fast for the Enterprise to catch, and can be piloted remotely (and instantly) from light years away (by a member of Daft Punk?). Sure... we'll learn about a few limitations of this technology as this trilogy unspools, but one wonders why the Romulans didn't just persist with this for the next few centuries and become an unstoppable force on the galactic stage.

But if you can get past all of that, you do get a fun story about the possible "End of the Federation before it ever begins." Any episode with Jeffrey Combs is, like, 25% better... and here Shran is back on his heels after the destruction of his own ship. It's a fun new texture for the character, as is seeing him interact more with Talas. For her part, Talas is getting a far better scene partner than she had in her first appearance -- though I don't love that they're beefing up her role here just to "fridge" her for Shran's character development. 

I wouldn't think to cast the physically imposing Brian Thompson as a Romulan... but he's been on the Star Trek contact list for a long time, and it's fun to see him add another alien to his collection. It's also fun to see more insult-charged interactions with the Tellarites, And it's nice to check in on the T'Pol/Trip relationship, as it's confirmed her marriage is officially ended -- with Reed (a bit creepily) encouraging Trip to make a move.

The cliffhanger is an exciting one, leaving Trip and Reed stranded aboard the Romulan ship -- having just discovered there's no crew aboard it. We're also fresh off of a dramatic shoot-out aboard Enterprise... though, as I mentioned, I don't love where it's left Talas. In any case, it definitely leaves you wanting to see what happens "next week."

Other observations:

• Aboard the Romulan ship, Reed and Trip use their magnetic boots to stay anchored to the floor when the ship starts maneuvering wildly in an attempt to injure them. I feel like maybe the force of the movement would like... snap their legs or something.

• The Romulan uniforms in this episode actually come from Star Trek: Nemesis. It saves some money, even if they aren't really period-accurate. 

I struggle with how super-powerful the Romulans are in this episode. But aside from that, "Babel One" is a fun opening to a new trilogy, with lots of espionage and diplomacy. I give it a B.

Star Trek Flashback: This Side of Paradise

In an early episode of Star Trek, fan-favorite character Spock's emotional control was compromised, driving him to tears. But what about a situation that could make Spock smile, or even fall in love? That seems to be the creative spark behind "This Side of Paradise."

The Enterprise checks in on a distant colony, expecting to find none alive due to the previously unknown radiation bombarding the planet. Instead, our heroes find the colonists alive and well -- quite well, with no ailments and almost blissful happiness. This seems to be the work of unusual spores in the environment, whose mysterious effects begin sweeping through the Enterprise crew and driving them to mutiny. Can Kirk resist the call to shirk his duties, and break the hold these spores have over his crew?

In this back half of Star Trek season 1, I've really been struck by how often the show goes on location. Later Star Treks chose to do more on a studio stage -- or perhaps didn't have the proportional budget to go outside as much. In any case, here the show is out on the road again, using Malibu State Park as the idyllic location of this colony -- and making a real meal of the visuals by having Spock dangle euphorically from a picturesque tree branch.

That Spock moment -- and more generally, the idea of an emotionally free "Vulcanian" must surely have been the point this episode worked backward from to reach. Because absent that, this feels uncomfortably close to another very recent episode, "The Return of the Archons." Both episodes feature Enterprise crew members deserting their duties in search of bliss as they interact with a planet of "pod people"-like locals.

If Star Trek is going to repackage the same story again so quickly, at least they make it more character-focused this time around. Besides the spotlight on Spock's romantic relationship (and a nimble performance from Leonard Nimoy), McCoy gets a sprinkling of funny moments ("Just an educated guess – I'd say that man is alive") and an almsot Foghorn Leghorn persona once mind-controlled, and Sulu gets to be a bit of detective (who seems to realize just how bizarre the possibilities might be).

But the episode is most illuminating of Captain Kirk, whose sense of duty is apparently so all-consuming that it somehow allows him to break the hold of the mind-altering spores. Assuming you can just roll with that, it really shows the true core of the character -- not the pursuit of a new woman every episode (that's actually not much of a thing in season one), but of always putting one "lady" first: the Enterprise. 

There's a loosely demarcated moral in the end, the notion that people need an ambition to strive for, or they'll just stagnate and do nothing. There's also a lot of meat for the fans -- from detailed closeups of Enterprise bridge panels, to tidbits about Spock's history, to a showdown between Kirk and Spock. But overall, I find myself wishing there had been a lot more space between this and "Archons." That episode may have had more creative flaws than this one, but the proximity still does it no favors.

Other observations:

• In the future as imagined in the 1960s, we still have appendectomies and tonsillectomies.

• When Kirk is alone on the Enterprise, there's a brief shot of an empty bridge before he exits the turbolift. This shot was used as a background plate for Scott's holodeck visit to the Enterprise in his Next Generation episode.

• There are plenty of stunt performers in Star Trek that look nothing like the actors they replace. But the "Captain Kirk" in this episode looks like a kid. 

I'm sure Spock fans would find it heresy that I give "This Side of Paradise" only a B-. I might even think better of it had I just watched it as a one-off, instead of in sequence so near "The Return of the Archons." But I think the repetitive elements of the story, combined with Kirk's convenient "immunity" to the spores, drags down the story from its full potential.

Boys Will Be Boys

After five seasons and nearly seven years, the series The Boys ended last week. The ultra-violent take on superhero fiction spent 40 episodes constantly trying to top its own level of gore while stuffing in ever more strident social and political satire in an effort to outpace reality. Fundamentally, the show never really changed; if you're aware of it and at some point decided it wasn't for you, this isn't a post trying to change your mind. No, this is simply me throwing my hat into a crowded ring of people on the internet offering their opinion on the final season and episode. (And I'll do my best to avoid specific spoilers.)

I am reminded in many ways of the response to the final season of Game of Thrones. Internet fandom is by no means as animated in hatred of the way The Boys ended as it was about the end of Game of Thrones... but the spirit seems similar. There are actually plenty of people defending the end of The Boys -- and I'm mostly going to be one of them. But comparing the two shows and the response to them, I feel like a few previously amorphous notions are crystalizing for me.

First, it is impossible to end a show whose bread-and-butter is plot twists. You could argue that neither Game of Thrones nor The Boys were a "plot twist" show in the same way as, say, Lost (which has been waiting a long while for others to enter the chat). But both shows were absolutely crafted to shock, one with sudden deaths of major characters, the other with violent set pieces (and, nearer the finish line, sudden deaths of major characters). The thing is, good endings are about giving characters what they deserve. And "what they deserve" can't come out of nowhere; it isn't satisfying if it hasn't been telegraphed.

It seems to me that majority of the outrage around the final season of both Thrones and The Boys came from people who imagined some other fate for a character that really did not fit the ample telegraphing of a fate they deserved. I'm talking Daenerys... or Homelander and Butcher. For some people, it was a shock they didn't like because they refused to see it coming; for others, it was disappointment in not being shocked because they did see it coming. Two sides of the same coin.

I said that was the majority of the outrage. I'd say almost all the rest of it is not actually anger at Game of Thrones or The Boys specifically, but the modern television format as a whole. Thrones had just six episodes in its final season; The Boys had eight. We're a long way from the 20-plus episodes of classic network seasons, or even the common streaming model of 12 or 13 episodes. When a show costs a ton to make, you get 8 episodes a season or less... because it costs a ton to make. And when it's time for an expensive show to end, it almost always means "not enough episodes to get to the natural ending in a natural way."

I actually thought the finale of The Boys was basically pitch-perfect. I'm not holding it up as one of the great finales of television history... but it was a finale that basically served up "the right ending" for every single major character. And that show had a ton of characters. So that's no small feat. That can be true, while at the same time acknowledging that season five as a whole was rather uneven. The pacing sputtered around from too fast to too slow. Major interpersonal conflict that was teed up at the end of season four, seemingly to set the stage for the final run, was instead mended too easily to defer the conflict for the final episode. The writers made a choice to stick with their formula right up until the very end, not just the final season as a whole. And I can understand that choice. I think it made for a satisfying finale at the end of a not-completely-satisfying season... a B+ at the end of maybe a B- or something like that?

Endings are hard. That's why TV viewers seem pretty united around the canon of great ones we've gotten over the years.