The Film That Doesn't Exist

I caught a rather thought-provoking documentary recently (as good documentaries generally are): Zodiac Killer Project. It's the work of filmmaker Charlie Shackleton, who narrates himself (sometimes appearing on screen) to tell the story of a film that never came to be.

The Zodiac Killer is arguably America's most notorious serial murderer, and the fact that his identity was never confirmed has only fueled interest and speculation. Countless books have been written about his crimes and his possible identity, some recently, many more contemporaneous to the murders themselves. One such book was by a California police officer, Lyndon E. Lafferty, who had his own theory of the killer's true identity -- and a somewhat fanciful tale to go along with it.

Charlie Shackleton was this close to securing the rights to make a film based on that book, The Zodiac Killer Cover-Up: The Silenced Badge. He was deep through all the pre-production planning, head swimming with the footage he'd collect, when the bottom suddenly dropped out. The rights holders refused to sign the contract, Shackleton lost access to the book, and his entire film collapsed. So instead, he made a movie talking you through the movie he would have made.

The result feels to me like the cinematic equivalent a young child licking their palm and holding it half an inch from their sibling's face as they taunt, "what, I'm not touching you!" A more highbrow way of expressing that sentiment might be to say that, having been denied the opportunity to make a serial killer documentary, Charlie Shackleton chose instead to burn the whole format down.

With relentless precision, Shackleton talks you through all the metaphorical boxes he was going to tick in his abandoned film. There would have been a shot like this, because these movies always have shots like this. The credits were going to have this kind of dark and suggestive footage, as they do. There would have been this kind of music, because of course there would. His narration is a wistful dichotomy: showing you how deeply he'd thought about the genre and the movie he wanted to make, while perhaps unaware of how cliche and uninventive a movie it would have been.

In a way, it's very clever. I'll certainly never be able to watch a crime documentary the same way. This is the sort of thing magicians fear should their secrets ever be revealed: once you know exactly how the trick is done, the amazement evaporates. I think this is what Shackleton is going for: holding up the mirror to the audience as if to demand, "Why do you even like this stuff? It's so formulaic!"

But I also found that to some extent, the movie might have been too clever for its own good. Is Shackleton holding up that mirror to us because he isn't quite willing to look in it himself? The only regret I sense in his narration is that he didn't actually get to make his movie. That's a totally reasonable reaction from an artist who poured his time and effort into something that will never be seen by anyone. But while he's "made lemons out of lemonade" with a meta film that basically asks why we like this garbage, he never seems to ask himself "why did I want to make this garbage?" I feel like the grade A version of this documentary would have demanded not only of the audience, "are you not entertained?" but would have explored a bit more why he himself was complicit.

Still, I do love a good peek behind the curtain of how things get made. And, evidently, how things don't get made. The Zodiac Killer Project may not have been that grade A experience I imagine it could have been, but I thought it was worth the time. I give it a B+. If it sounds interesting to you at all, I think it won't disappoint you.

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.

Here Comes Santa Fe

The morning of our day in Santa Fe began in the most unlikely of ways: we actually slept in. For hours! But we still fit plenty in once we got rolling. We started with breakfast at Cafe Catron, where we sampled a New Mexico staple: a burrito (breakfast, in this case) served "Christmas style" (smothered in both red and green chile). Pretty tasty. Locals may now jump in and name five other places they think serve a better breakfast burrito.

We decided to grab some coffee to walk around with, and the name of one spot in particular demanded our attention: CrashMurderBusiness. I was wondering what had inspired such a bizarre name, until the sign at the door made it all clear -- it was a play on fun-sounding "mass nouns," which extended to the menu and the "Race of Roadrunners" I ordered as my beverage. (It tasted like a chocolate bonbon with chili powder. Perhaps you sense a theme of New Mexico.)

We wandered the Railyard Artisan Market for a bit, partly for "nothing in particular" but particular for something very particular. From our trip to New Orleans a few years ago, our one lingering regret is that we didn't buy a pair of paintings that really caught our eye. Since then, on any trip that takes us near the possibility of picking up some art, we take a look. Nothing spoke to us in the same way this time -- not even with the added ease of driving it back home. But we'll always have Julia Street in New Orleans... and, until we find something, a nice reason to appreciate some local artists when we travel.

Art was also the theme of the next stop, the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. This multi-room gallery is dedicated to the famous artist who ultimately made New Mexico her home, and is filled with many of her paintings as well as the work of a few contemporaries, and one room of modern artists creating in response to her work.

Next, we walked the area around Santa Fe Plaza, a shopping district with a wide range of stores. We spent a few hours, first grabbing drinks at a pub called Desert Dogs (where we caught a bit of the World Cup final, including the eclectic halftime show), and ultimately picking up some clothes. I finally was able to find a hat I think works pretty well for me. (But sorry, I don't have a decent picture of me wearing it yet. Perhaps that'll come on some future trip.)

In the afternoon, we took a short trip out of the city to Nambé Falls. You wouldn't expect to find a 120-foot waterfall less than an hour outside Santa Fe, but there it is -- and with only a modest 1/4 mile hike to reach it from the trailhead. Unfortunately, we weren't prepared enough to also take the 1/4 mile hike through water to reach the base... but if you're going to be in the area and are interested, I'll throw that out there for you: take shoes you can take in the water.

By dinner time, we were back in Santa Fe and continuing the Mexican food theme: this time at a place called Tres Colores, where I took a shot at Mole Enchiladas (not a normal order for me by any stretch). It wasn't quite my thing, but I was glad for the vacation change of pace. And from what I gather, it was really good mole sauce, as evidenced by a conversation at a nearby patio table between a patron raving about it and one of the restaurant owners proudly explaining it was a family recipe.

We finished the evening with a pair of stops for after dinner drinks. First was Santa Fe Spirits, a distillery where we picked up a bottle of whiskey to tap into later for trip memories; then finally Nuckoll's Brewery, a place with a large balcony overlooking the depot where the train we'd ridden the night before pulled in after another sunset trip.

We talked about a possible morning detour to Bandelier National Monument the next day... but pretty much already knew we weren't going to do that. In the morning, we tried one more breakfast burrito stop (Tortilla Flats this time), that one more stop pretty much ending my desire to have Mexican food for the next week or two. (Nothing against that place. When in Rome... stuff your face with the local cuisine. That's pretty much how that saying goes, right?) Anyway, after a satisfying few days that we'd found very relaxing, we decided against another hike before immediately jumping in the car for a six-hour drive home.

It was a lovely little getaway to get the batteries charged ahead of Gen Con. (I know this blog has become rather intermittent anyway, but don't expect any posts for most of next week.) Colorado's neighbor to the south is a nice place to visit.

New Mexico, New Outlook

Next week is Gen Con, billed as "the best four days in gaming," but for me and many others is also a "big week at the office." To help reset and mentally prepare, my husband and I took a long weekend to road trip down to New Mexico -- which, blessedly, was actually 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the Denver area right now.

After sleeping in the best we could (how better to start a long weekend), we set out on the drive. We stopped for lunch at Brues Alehouse along the waterfront in Pueblo, but from there it was south on down to Albuquerque. Our late start and a late afternoon delay meant there wasn't much time for activity that first evening. Still, we had the first of many Mexican meals at High Noon. Well... this meal was a bit "opt in," actually, as they're also known for their steaks. But I quite enjoyed my shrimp enchiladas.

After dinner, we enjoyed drinks at a bar along a stretch of what was once the historic Route 66 -- though that factoid was not the reason we picked it. A few years ago, we were briefly caught up in the whirlwind of a Netflix reality show called Drink Masters. A dozen different bartenders competed over several episodes in a cocktail making competition. We found it engaging, despite having the same central shortcoming that all the foodie reality shows have: you can’t taste anything being judged. But one of the show's contestants, Kate Gerwin, opened up this bar in Albuquerque. And while maybe you couldn't taste exactly what was made on the show, you could sample what she makes when not under time pressure and forced into bizarre restrictions.

You could also get a thrown martini -- not shaken, not stirred -- something I hadn't even heard of before this. Had to order one. Thrown, it turns out, is what you imagine a mad scientist doing to mix a concoction, showily pouring it back and forth between two containers. Martinis aren't my thing, so I certainly can't tell you if it makes a difference. But it's certainly a fun presentational thing for a bar to do.

The next morning, we stopped at Golden Crown Panderia to grab some empanadas on our way out of town. (The place has a 24/7 vending machine for pastries out front... but being there during business hours, we didn't need to use it.) Then it was west on I-40 for a stretch until we reached the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano. We'd heard about the place from a friend, and decided we had to check it out for ourselves. Over a roughly 1.5 mile hike, you climb to the edge of a volcano crater, and along the path where flowing lava cut a trench several thousands of years ago.

Then a bit later on, you head down nearly 100 steps where you feel the temperature drop about 5 degrees with every 10 steps. At the bottom, you reach a cave where the temperature never rises about 31 degrees Fahrenheit, where dripping water has collected over the ages into a sheet of algae-covered ice. Like I mentioned earlier, New Mexico isn't as hot as Denver right now... yet it was still wild to descend from a warm summer morning into a frigid cave in barely a minute.

It's a fair drive out to the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano (but worth it), and we were actually headed to Santa Fe for the evening. Still, we had time for a few stops, including La Cumbre Brewing Company. Some of you may recall the craft brewery map I picked up about a decade ago, where I mark places we've visited with pins. The craft beer industry has been going through quite the contraction since the map was new, and many of the places it shows don't exist anymore. But the possible quest to put a "gold pin" in every state continues with this stop (which had a great Mexican-style beer made with blue corn).

Our evening concluded with a "sunset serenade" excursion on the Sky Railway. Operating on a section of railroad track dating back to the earliest days of rail in the area, this tourist train takes you out to a picturesque spot in the desert to watch a truly beautiful sunset. The "serenade" part was a local Albuquerque musician who set up in the car and performed on his guitar on the two-hour round-trip journey.

Our long weekend still had one more full day ahead, which I'll recount later this week. 

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.

Sheep Thrills

Between Kenneth Branagh donning the Poirot mustache and Daniel Craig solving crimes in the Knives Out movies, you might say that the whodunit is having a bit of a resurgence at the movies. That might have opened the door wide enough for something as unusual as The Sheep Detectives to slip in.

Shepherd George Hardy reads murder mysteries to his flock every night. When he turns up dead, the sheep try to apply all they've learned from books to solve the case. But they'll have to overcome their inherent limitations as, well... sheep. And they'll have to find a way to share what they know with the town's only police officer.

As strange as that description may sound, it only grows more strange as you drill down. Based on a novel by Leonie Swann, this film's script was written by Craig Mazin -- most known for his work on Chernobyl and The Last of Us. Mazin tried for almost a decade to get the movie made, failing perhaps because of how diametrically opposed in tone it was from his most successful work, or maybe because the cyclical genre infatuation of Hollywood hadn't circled back around to mysteries yet.

Eventually, though, he paired up with animation director Kyle Balda (who did numerous films for Illumination), and the movie became a reality -- with one hell of a cast. Appearing on screen, there's Hugh Jackson as the shepherd, Nicholas Braun as the hapless cop, Emma Thompson as a quirky lawyer, and numerous other recognizable faces to round out the pool of suspects.

The voice cast for the titular sheep detectives is even more stacked -- including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Chris O'Dowd, Regina Hall, Patrick Stewart, Bella Ramsey, and Brett Goldstein. Looking at that list, you might pick up that it's a group of actors who have shined both in comedy and drama. And that's kind of the special sauce that makes the movie work. The Sheep Detectives rarely lets you forget how deeply silly the premise is -- but at the same time, it's an absolutely played-straight murder mystery. And in its most successful moments, it gets surprisingly sentimental.

I can't claim that the movie perfectly runs the gauntlet of all these tones. Indeed, I'm not sure that Craig Mazin and Kyle Balda are actually the best writer/director pairing; I get the impression that Mazin was going for a deeply earnest movie that just happens to star sheep, while Balda may have been going for something a zany Minions movie that just happens to be live action. But there is an effective core to it all (perhaps coming from the original novel), that's definitely elevated by the actors. 

The Sheep Detectives surely won't end up being one of the best movies I see this year, but it certainly felt like a sweet and enjoyable dessert I'm glad I sampled. I give it a B.

Make a Constitution Roll

Many news headlines yesterday triumphantly reported the Supreme Court ruling in the case "Trump v. Barbara," upholding the law that people born in the United States are to be treated as U.S. citizens. In the rush to report this as a "loss for Trump" or a "win for the rule of law," most headlines completely overlook a chilling reality -- this actually was a close decision, and should not have been.

Four of nine Justices ruled (in dissent) that the first sentence of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution doesn't actually say what it says. It's not a complicated sentence full of legalese. It says:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. 

Actually, most of the Constitution is pretty clear in this way, if you've ever made the time to read it. But admittedly, some of it is less so. And with all of that in mind, I'm here to recommend a book -- The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader. (Yes, for some reason, the cover title doesn't exactly match the listed title.)

This book was written by Melissa Murray, law professor and co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny. And the book is like getting the chance to sit in on one of her classes. Actually, it's better than that, because the book is very much crafted for the layperson... which, as Murray enthusiastically presents, is exactly who that founding document was intended for.

After a brief introduction, the book presents the Constitution in whole... but then the titular "Guide" begins. Murray goes through the document article by article, amendment by amendment, sometimes even clause by clause, explaining exactly what's going on. At each step, she discusses the history: what was going on at the time that sparked this particular element of the Constitution, and how it was debated at the time. She then walks you through key Supreme Court rulings since, and how they shifted, crystallized, or redefined the meaning over time. In instances where a provision in the document is the subject of modern debate, she details the positions in that debate.

On the podcast Strict Scrutiny, Melissa Murray is a progressive voice whom I happen to agree with a great deal. But on this occasion, I actually appreciate even more that she has set aside any ideological stance (no matter how moral I may find it). This book is methodically even at every turn; it's not dispassionate by any means, very much reflecting the concerns of the Constitution's framers over the decades. But it is a book I think you could give to your "crazy relative on the other side of the aisle" without triggering any alarm bells about propaganda.

If you read this book for yourself, you will come away with a better understanding of the U.S. Constitution -- even if you actually have read the document for yourself (as so many politicians claim to have done, sometimes by pulling out the prop version they carry in their pocket). The Constitution is, most famously, a document of, for, and by the People. But for it to fully fulfill that promise, the People have to know what it says.

Melissa Murray has done her part to help with that. The book may be called The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader -- but another descriptor that might have gone in there is "essential." I give the book an A, and an enthusiastic recommendation.

(Maybe a few clowns on the Supreme Court should pick up a copy.) 

Less Than Super, But Good Enough

This weekend, I went to go see the new movie Supergirl -- bracing for, what most of the advance buzz had warned me -- was going to be a disastrously bad experience. The low expectations likely improved the experience.

This movie follows the interstellar adventures of Kara Zor-El, on an extended binge-drinking holiday from Earth to dull the powerful feelings stirring inside her. She can no longer escape responsibility when a young orphan seeks her help on a sole-destroying quest for vengeance... just as she also has 72 hours to save her dog. Now she has two lives to save.

There are some fair criticisms you could level against this movie. It's almost aggressively unoriginal. That it follows the all-but-mandated "refuse the call / answer the call" story structure for superhero stories is barely worth commenting on. That its action scenes and character beats come from the bag of tropes is perhaps a bit more disappointing -- particularly if you're a fan of The Avengers, Executive Decision, the Mad Max franchise, or any other place you've scene this stuff before. I personally was hoping a story beyond "John Wick meets Guardians of the Galaxy," and definitely didn't get it.

But the thing is, none of these homages (or rip-offs, depending on your own level of charity) is done badly here. There's a wide gulf between actively bad and "just not inspiring and new." To me, Supergirl lands (a flashy, three-point superhero landing) pretty squarely in the latter camp. It's fun, it's brash, it gets the job the done.

And in a few performances, the movie does rise above being just paint-by-numbers. Jason Momoa (in KISS makeup) sure is fun in the scenery-chewing role of Lobo. In his cameo moments, David Corenswet is still giving the most earnest performance as Superman since Christopher Reeve. And Milly Alcock really does carry this movie capably on her shoulders in the title role. She very much makes the movie.

That this "not great, but not bad" movie seemed to receive such vitriol in advance? The kind excuse would be that everyone has forgotten too quickly just how bad most DC movies were until recently. The less kind (more likely?) excuse is that this is a loud dude-bro reaction to a superhero movie starring a woman. (Especially sad, when she's basically the best thing about it.)

I give Supergirl a B-. This is pretty much what I expect if I decide to go check out a summer blockbuster in a movie theater these days. I hope it will be better than this. But if all I get is basically this? That was pretty much the contract.

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.

Feelings of (Dis)closure

Director Steven Spielberg is back with a new science fiction adventure film? Sign me up! Like many this past weekend, I headed to the theater to see Disclosure Day.

A cybersecurity specialist steals sensitive information from the secretive organization he works for. A Kansas City weather reporter zones out on live television and begins speaking in some strange... language? The head of a rogue group of whistleblowers is holed up somewhere... building a house? What does it all mean, and what do these events have to do with each other?

Depending on what information you've sought out about Disclosure Day, you may know some of these answers before you see the movie, or at least think you know. I think the film is probably more enjoyable the less you know. But the discourse has been hard to avoid, so you probably know (or sense) that this movie in some way marks some return to very early Steven Spielberg -- some sort of spiritual successor to Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or E.T., perhaps?

The thing is, those two movies set a very high bar to live up to, when a much more fair one might be to expect something on par with Spielberg's take on War of the Worlds. Go into Disclosure Day expecting anything like "the best Steven Spielberg movie in decades," and I wager you'll come out feeling disappointed. Yet also, it's exceedingly rare for Spielberg to make a bad movie. Things like clever shot-making, perfect pacing, and working with actors just seem to come as naturally to him as breathing.

And to that last point -- working with actors -- he has a hell of a cast assembled here. There's a veritable who's who of recent rising stars, including Josh O'Connor, Colman Domingo, and Wyatt Russell. There's Eve Hewson, who seems just one or two big movies away from joining their ranks. There's a stalwart like Colin Firth, who continues his slow evolution from drawing room drama to unlikely action star to now playing the mustache-twirling heavy.

Bright as they all shine, Emily Blunt outshines them all. It almost feels like her impressive career -- playing opposite the likes of Tom Cruise and Dwayne Johnson in action movies, anchoring horror in The Quiet Place, ranging from Sicario to Mary Poppins -- has been leading up to this role that asks her to do it all. In Disclosure Day, she's in an earnest and emotional scene one moment and in mortal danger the next. And I'm convinced that despite all the rest of the talent involved, Disclosure Day wouldn't work without her.

But "convinced" is a word I chose deliberately. Because I kind of feel like I need to be "convinced" a bit to truly love this movie. I walked out with generally warm feelings, thinking I'd seen something good-but-not-great, but also immediately questioning my read. Disclosure Day is a movie that makes me ask if modern blockbusters have rotted my brain and caused my movie-going muscles to atrophy. The movie very pointedly does not explain everything to you. Not only do you have to hop on board quickly in the middle of the action, but not all of the dots are connected by the end. Afterward, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the more I thought about the movie, the more I'd feel not everything about the story really held together.

Yet I also felt like it had been a long time since I'd watched a summer blockbuster that didn't spoon-feed every answer to every asked and unasked question its audience might have. And when I happened to mention this to a friend who also saw Disclosure Day, she was quick to point out possible themes and threads I may have overlooked in the movie. Hmmm. Food for thought, for sure. Signs that this movie was deeper than I gave it credit for, probably. But... should I need to be convinced to like a movie in this way?

That's probably a much bigger topic than a review of a single movie can cover. But I will say, whether or not Disclosure Day has a "there" there, and whether or not it holds up to deeper scrutiny... it's still, either way, a fun ride with some very good acting. So overall, I think I'm going to give it a B+. And I'm pretty sure that if I should ever watch it again, that grade wouldn't hold. Whether it moved up or down, I couldn't say... but I doubt it would stay the same. 

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.