Star Trek: The Next Generation - "Justice"

Bit of a mixed bag, this episode. If you want, you can skip all the rambling below and just read my last paragraph, which sums everything all up. ;)

On the one hand, it raises some great concepts about laws and justice. The line "There can be no justice when laws are absolute" stuck with me from the moment I first saw this episode back in '87; I even put it on a job application once. (Suffice to say, I didn't get the job.) Picard's dilemma is dealing with conflicting senses of justice-- Allowing Wesley to be executed for a crime that would barely be a misdemeanor in his culture strikes him as an injustice, but forcibly preventing it is not only an injustice to the laws of the Edos, but an injustice to his own laws, as it would be breaking the prime directive.

Which is another interesting aspect of this episode-- it takes a totally TOS approach to the Prime Directive, saying it's okay to introduce yourself to a pre-warp civilization, as long as you don't interfere with their laws or customs. By the episode "First Contact," this was changed to any contact with a pre-warp civilization was not allowed, on the grounds that simple knowledge of the Federation's existence could change the course of the planet's development.

Hmm, maybe after this episode, Starfleet decided to tighten up the rules?

I also love the "God Ship" in this episode. I just always loved the look of it, so angular yet ethereal. I think this episode handles the concept of God and religion quite well also. I also love the bit where the Edo guy throws Picard's "Diss the 20th Century" bit back in his face.

The places where I feel this episode doesn't work mostly involves the acting. Once again, (with the exception of Patrick Stewart,) everybody's so stiff, especially the Crushers and the Edos. I'm not saying they have to talk like they're from New York, but I feel like they all do that "We-must-care-ful-ly-space-our-words-be-cause-we-come-from-a-diff-er-ent-time-and-place!" way of talking that just sounds stiff.

And speaking of stiff, I think the concept of a sexually open society was a good one, but unfortunately it just kind of falls flat here. But that may be a case of my standards being too high, so they at least get points for trying. And I know this is my queer eye speaking, but I just also have a hard time accepting that absolutely EVERYONE we see on this planet is straight. They're this open, loving society that places a huge emphasis on health and pleasure and basically saying the body is something to celebrate... but only between opposite genders. Anytime you see people making out in the background, it's always boy-girl. Maybe their God-Ship decreed it. "Why, no-one-would-dare-risk-playing-love-games-with-some-one-of-the-same-gender, because-no-one-would-risk-death!" But seriously, to be fair I need to be realistic of the situation-- this was 1987, on the show that scrapped "Blood and Fire." It just would have been great if Star Trek had continued to be the barrier breaking show it was in 1966. So when I watch this episode, I find myself thinking of what might have been.

Thank heavens for Ivanova and Talia on Babylon 5 years later...

::climbs down off of patented LGBT Soap Box™::

Anyway. Cool looking God-Ship and concepts on justice, fairness and religion. Nice acting by Patrick Stewart, dissapointing acting by a lot of others. Dissapointing follow-through of Planet Love, but nice concept and lots of hot blondes in skimpy outfits.

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Invincible by Troy Denning

A good ending to a strong, albeit sad and tragic, series. I feel kind of stunned.

Pros:

• The references back to Jaina and Jacen's bond in the "Young Jedi Knights" series, showing that even though Jacen was gone, there was a part of Jaina that could never look at him as anything but her brother.

• Tahiri felt more like herself in this book. I felt more like this was the Tahiri I knew, twisted into doing what she thought was a necessary evil. Of course, it may have helped that I remembered Anakin Solo had a Force vision of Tahiri becoming a Sith. Wish I'd remembered that while I was reading the last book...
  

• The observation that there has to be something left inside a Sith that wants to be redeemed. It's easy to see how, despite his horrible acts, Darth Vader regretted the path he'd gone down and still longed to be Anakin Skywalker again, he just thought he was beyond redemption. As opposed to Darth Caedus, who had come to despise everything that Jacen Solo was. Even his last act-- warning Tenel Ka to try and save her and Allana-- was really just his trying to make sure his Sith vision of Allana ruling the galaxy came true, and not the old Jacen trying to take hold again as Jaina misinterpreted it.

Cons:

• I feel a little lost about what happened to Admiral Niathel. There were mentions of her setting up a government in exile, and a side comment that her fleet had been wiped out. Does this mean she was killed? No mention was made of her one way or the other when they were going through the candidates for who would take over as Alliance Chief-of-State. Kinda' vague for a character that had been very prominant.

Observations:

• I'm kind of surprised that there was so little made of the Yuzzhan Vong prophecy of twins having to fight each other to the death, especially from Tahiri, since her brain is half Yuzzhan Vong.

• Was Darth Caedus's vision really a Sith vision of Allana ruling the galaxy as he wanted to rule it, or was it simply a Force vision of Allana being a benevolent ruler of the Hapes Consoritum (or maybe even the Galactic Alliance), and he just interpreted what he was seeing in his own twisted Sith way? Or is it even deeper than that, and Jaina was right; that all of this means that Jacen's initial goal-- a galaxy that was safe for his daughter-- has come to fruition, and even if he personally (and the Sith and his "controlled galaxy") all lost, that his goal was still achieved and Allana will be safe... so he did win?

Well, I've put my request in to my local library for their copy of the next book, Millenium Falcon. Their website says it's already overdue, so maybe I'll get it soon. I'm just going to read comic books in the meantime. I think I can find one or two of them laying around here somewhere...

Macross Frontier #21 "Azure Ether" and #22 "Northern Cross"

Okay, well this at least explains what happened to Ai-Kun. Perhaps Ai-Kun is meant to be the bridge that helps us understand what the Vajra are all about? On the one hand, Grace says all they're about is "they're in our way," and on the other hand she calls "the planet where the Vajra's true queen resides" her "treasure island."

So now I get what was so special about Sheryl and Ranka's singing, specifically-- their voices produce fold waves, which are somehow in tune with the Vajra. But what's it all for?

And so the Macross Quarter goes rogue, and Alto and Ozma wind up on opposite sides. Can you imagine that ever happening to Rick and Roy?!? Well, I guess Rick may have been thick, but he wasn't quite as obstinate as Alto is, and I can totally understand Ozma's thinking on not including him.

Only three more to go...

Stargate Atlantis - "Enemy at the Gate"

Well, I didn't see that ending coming.

One of the things I love about series finales is that since there are no plans to make any more, anyone could die at any time. (Hopefully it won't be a wasted, pointless, out-of-character death like Trip's on Star Trek: Enterprise... but I digress.) So I was in serious fear for everyone (and every ship) on this episode. The only thing I didn't think they would go for was actually nuking the hive ship with everyone aboard it, but hey... it wouldn't be the first time a show decided to end by killing off everybody.

But I really, really didn't expect them to bring Atlantis back to Earth. I never thought of Atlantis as one of those Gilligan's Island type shows... right from the beginning, they intended to stay in the Pegasus galaxy, but ideally be able to travel back and forth as needed. And the more they accomplished that goal, the more I liked the show. (It broke my heart when they blew up the GateBridge.) I loved the idea of Earth being the catalyst for uniting all these scattered tribes of mankind across the universe, and with Atlantis being Earth's permanent base in another galaxy it just felt like humanity was constantly moving forward. So the idea that they might say "Show's over, bring them home!" just never occurred to me.

Although I have to admit, that closing shot of them all lined up looking at the Golden Gate bridge was great, and exactly what Voyager should have had. (I wonder if they did it on purpose just to take a dig at Voyager? After all, wouldn't it have been more fitting to have Atlantis touch down in the Atlantic ocean, instead of the Pacific?)

Which raises my next question... Earth considered it their obligation to stay in the Pegasus galaxy since they woke up the Wraith. Now I'd imagine that some of the Wraith have been "cured" as Todd apparently was, but I doubt that completely solves the problem. I'll be curious to see how much the next TV movie deals with this, and how much of it is setting up Stargate Universe.

Speaking of which, I'm guessing that will be using that nifty Singularity Drive they got working this episode...

And lastly... SO MANY COOL SHIP SHOTS!! I love the ships on Stargate. I really, really do. I wish Hasbro would make Stargate ships in their Titanium line. And I really like the F-302s. I love the whole concept that the US Air Force reverse-engineered these alien Death Gliders, and now we have an Earth-looking version. It's the kind of thing that other shows would have as back story, but we watched it all unfold on SG-1.

And speaking of which, it was good to have so many supporting characters fro SG-1 and Atlantis come back for this episode. (But who the heck was that woman who visited Ronon in the infirmary?!?)

All in all, I'd have to say Stargate Atlantis did a good job in its run. It had a great theme song, good characters, character growth, and cool spaceships. Not as good as SG-1, but still a strong show in its own right. I'm looking forward to Stargate Universe.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - "Lonely Among Us"

I'm not a big fan of "I've been taken over by an alien entity" stories, and Next Gen is pretty much to blame for that. They did it a lot. This episode is the first of many, and in a way it feels even more frustrating for it, because everyone's so dang patient about it since it's the first time that it's happening to them.

On the plus side, it really brings home what a great actor Patrick Stewart is, as his performance while possessed is the best of all. And Brent Spiner really steals the show with his discovery of (and subsequent impressions of) Sherlock Holmes.

I don't think the characters were intended to be a metaphor for them, but the Anitcans and Selay made me think of the Israelis and the Palestinians... two sides that have so much bad blood between them that they can't stop hating each other. But the topic is only brushed on in one of those "let's show how much better we are than the 20th century" lines, and the Anticans seem to be used more as an argument in favor of vegetarianism more than anything else.

Nostalgia Segment: when we first watched this episode in 1987, for some reason my mother and I thought this was the second appearance of Assistant Chief Engineer Singh, and were surprised when they killed him off. But rewatching it now, I see this was his only appearance. Alas, poor Singh... I knew him not as well as I thought I did, Horatio...

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Revelation by Karen Traviss

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I'm not upset with the direction of the story, just amazed at how the Star Wars universe has turned itself upside down with this series.

Yes, sooner or later it happens to all the popular villains... Punisher... Venom... heck, even Wolverine... something happens where we learn why our favorite bad guy is such a tortured soul, and we start to understand his own code of honor, and he even starts to be heroic. Add ol' Boba Fett to the list. I think what makes is it work so well in this case is Fett's being surrounded by all the other Mandalorians (excuse me, Mando'ade) and watching Mandalore rebuild itself. Karen Traviss does such a good job pulling it off that I'm tempted to read her Republic Commando novels.

Ahh, and at last, Darth Caedus is not hiding he's a Sith, everybody's talking about it (even if some of them don't really understand what it means), and he's even starting to let people know his new Sith title. I wish it happened a little sooner in the book, but it's still rewarding to see it happen.

The only thing that didn't work for me in this book was Tahiri. She just feels out of character. I get that Caedus has been seducing her with the flow-walks to see Anakin and all, but I just can't see that being enough to make her turn a blind eye to everything that's happening. She's fallen into the whole Sith apprentice thing too easily for me. Even if other people don't realize what being a Sith means, she should in no uncertain terms. Tahiri was always headstrong, and here she's just weak and easily manipulated.

And Jaina's treatment of Tahiri is just as bad-- so much was made of how all the Solo family tried to make Tahiri a part of their family after Anakin died, that for Jaina to face off against her with Mirta and not have any qualms about it at all just doesn't make sense. (And further more, it belittles Jaina's bonding with Mirta throughout this book; does this mean that if Jaina and Mirta end up finding themselves on opposing armies, all of that "we'll make sure we avoid each other" stuff gets forgotten?) To give a fair reality check here, I realize that this is probably just a case of conflicting authors; you can't expect every author to know every little detail of every Star Wars book ever printed. But this just seemed like a big enough point that I felt someone should have acknowledged it somewhere.

But despite that, this book felt very, very satisfying. I can't wait to read the final Legacy of the Force book. Oh look! It came out in paperback yesterday! Perfect....

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - "Dooku Captured"

This one was okay. Not bad, but didn't excite me like the last few episodes have. Just kinda' average.

Things I liked: Getting to see so much of the Weequays, the little Salacious Crumb guy, and of course the Jawa. I also liked seeing Obi-Wan trying to show Anakin that the whole thing could be a lesson in humility; it was good to show how Anakin has his flaws, and that Obi-Wan is still trying to gude him, but in a much more subtle way than the movies did.

Things I didn't like: for some reason, Obi-Wan's dialogue comes across as... well... like he's being a dick. I like Matt Lanter's take on Anakin more than Hayden Christensen's, but James Arnold Taylor's take on Obi-Wan just really rubbed me the wrong way this time. Eh, maybe it's my mood. And Ewan McGregor and Alec Guiness are very tough acts to follow.

Macross Frontier #19 "Triangler" and #20 "Diamond Crevasse"

I'm continually intrigued on how the character of Minmay has been split between Sheryl and Ranka; when we started, Sheryl was the weary Minmay of Do You Remember Love?, and Ranka was the hopeful Minmay of the TV series. Now we've watched their roles reverse.

So let me get this straight: Ranka's pet Ai-Kun turned out to be a larva-stage Vajra, so that means he was just one of many Vajra that Leon had stashed away for whatever his nefarious plot is? At first I thought he was the only one on the Frontier (Well, not counting the ones stuck in the big giant tubes, of course). So when the second-stage Vajra showed up and killed the assassin, I thought it must have been Ai-Kun "grown up." But then there were tons of Vajra running around and I couldn't understand how all those Vajra came from one little one. (I mean come on now, it was Gubaba that looked like a Tribble, not Ai-Kun!) So I guess the other Vajra didn't come from Ai-Kun, but were bred from the ones in the tubes, and Ai-Kun just got loose and became Ranka's pet?

So I'm guessing this also means that Leon and Grace are in control of all the Vajra, which they are using for some as yet unrevealed purpose. Whatever the purpose is, to accomplish it they used the Vajra to destroy the Macross Galaxy, but it wasn't enough, and now they're trying again with the Macross Frontier.

Oh, and somehow these Vajra attacks are bringing out emotional energy (dare I all it Spiritia?) in the Macross singers (first Sheryl on the Galaxy and now Ranka on the Frontier), which Leon and Grace also need for their plan.

At least that's what I think is going on. You know, I appreciate that in this post-Evangelion age, anime stories give us credit for being able to think for ourselves and try to make you piece together what the bigger picture is on your own ... but man, there are times when I really miss the Robotech narrator.

Once again, Macross F reminds me that just because characters and situations are similar to Macross, it doesn't mean they'll end the same. Michel's relationship with Klan was always some good comic relief, and I always liked the "Max and Miria" overtones to it. After a while you can't help but hope that Klan would finally get Michael. (Although I have to admit, the fact that her micronized body was a little girl's would keep me away from her too, I don't care how old her brain inside the body is.) Michel's sacrifice for Klan was heart wrenching, and I totally did not see it coming.

See You, Space Playboy.

Stargate Atlantis - "Vegas"

Wow, I absolutely LOVED this episode.

I don't watch CSI (not enough spaceships in it) so I didn't get the specific homages, but I figured they were something along those lines. And I really didn't need to know CSI to enjoy the extra elements of this episode.

It didn't take long for me to stop watching it with an eye towards figuring out the angle ("is this a broken timeline? An alternate reality? A hallucination?") and just got sucked into this totally different take on the show. Learning why everything was different was just icing on the cake.

Looks like Atlantis is going out in style.

Star Wars: Legacy of the Force - Fury by Aaron Aliston

I'm growing impatient for Darth Caedus to come out of his Sith closet. Everybody knows "Jacen" has "gone dark" and turned his back on everything and everyone he ever believed in, but none of the Jedi seem to be willing to bring up the obvious... this is not just "dark" behavior, this is evil. This is Sith. Maybe now that he's strangling officers on his bridge people will get it. Hopefully the next book will open with him brandishing his nice new red lightsaber screaming "I AM DARTH CAEDUS!!!" to the Galaxy. I hope so, since there's only two books left. I'd like Luke and Leia and Han to completely understand just what it is they're fighting.

Along those lines, I'm very happy that the secret of Allana's parentage is out. At last, Han and Leia know they're grandparents and get to meet their granddaughter. The scene where Caedus reveals he's Allana's father to her was incredible... you get the echoes of the scene with Vader and Luke, only it comes across as so much more hopeful. You can feel his love for his daughter and it's as if we're getting to see that there's still a tiny bit of Jacen left in there, just like there was a tiny bit of Anakin left in Vader that allowed him to be turned back to the light.

And then he goes and says "and then you can help me decide how all the people should live... wouldn't that be nice?" Man. Talk about creepy chills, and making him seem all the more irredeemable.

I'm also very glad to see the rift between Jagged Fell and Jaina healing up. I always liked how they worked together. Zekk being in the mix (and even becoming friends with Jag as well) has definitely added a lot of flavor to it as well.

And at long last, an end to Alema Rar! At least, I hope it's a real end this time. She's been a tragic character, but I think her story dragged on a little too long.

And lastly, I assume that's Ben Skywalker on the cover, based on the color of his lightsaber and the way he's dressed... but his face looks so much older, and so grim, that I originally thought it was Darth Caedus. And the guy on the cover of Betrayal, the first book in this series, looks so young I thought that was Ben, but I recently saw on Wookiepedia that it's Jacen! Is it just me that their ages seem to be reversed, or were other people confused too?

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UPDATE: I just went to put Fury back on my shelf, and I pulled off the next book... and it's called Revelation, with Darth Caedus on the cover brandishing a red lightsaber. How's that for instant gratification?