Search
Cookie Usage Statistics Colour Key Sudden Death Monthly Poll Caption Comp eMail Author Shops
Ships Fleets Weaponry Species People Timelines Calculators Photo Galleries
Stations Design Lineage Size Charts Battles Science / Tech Temporal Styling Maps / Politics
Articles Reviews Lists Recreation Search Site Guide What's New Forum

Episode Guest Reviews

Reviewer : Platonian
Ave Rating : 2.9412 for 17 reviews
Title : Pathfinder Rating : 4
Writers : David Zabel Year : 2376
Review : Hooray for Mr. Barclay! Boo, hiss idiotic Starfleet bureaucracy. The same kind of people who brought us the redoubtable Section 31 -- "the ends justify the means" -- are alive, well and far too active here. It is indeed sad that this episode reflects real life so accurately. The kind of petty, small-minded people in charge are, unfortunately, quite real. Happily, at least in this Utopian world of fiction, the "good guys" come out on top. "The willing suspension of disbelief," as Samuel Taylor Coleridge brilliantly said.
Title : Memorial Rating : 1
Writers : Brannon Braga Year : 2376
Review : I am, frankly, shocked by Captain Janeway's decision to restore the functionality of the "memorial" and allow it to continue traumatizing unsuspecting and innocent passers-by. She, one will note, did NOT suffer the effects of this device. Easy, then, for her to spout platitudes about how important it is to remember the tragedy of the colonists. She will not suffer PTSD from encountering it. Rank has its privileges. She at least had a modicum of decency in ordering a warning buoy to be deployed. That is why I did not give this episode a "0" rating.
Title : Learning Curve Rating : 0
Writers : Jean Louise Matthias, Ronald Wilkerson Year : 2371
Review : Every time I watch this episode I am reminded of why I do not like Vulcans, and why I so appreciated "Enterprise" for showing the dark, sinister, hypocritical side of Vulcan culture. It helps explain the Romulans. I'm no fan of the Maquis, but I have to agree with their objection to being bullied into submission by the likes of Tuvok to make them conform to Star Fleet, the very institution many of them consider their blood enemy. I wish this tension had been maintained throughout the episode, indeed through the series. It would have made the series more realistic and dramatically powerful. Unfortunately, the writers seem to have opted for a "happily ever after" conclusion that showed the Maquis that "all we like sheep have gone astray."
Title : The Corbomite Maneuver Rating : 5
Writers : Jerry Sohl Year : 2266
Review : "The Corbomite Maneuver" is one of my favorite episodes in all of Star Trek because of the First Federation. Yes, the crew of the Enterprise prevail (or so they think) by guile and demonstrate an admirable sense of compassion, as has been described at length elsewhere; but it's the First Federation who really shine. Here is a government, run by a species that is clearly more technologically advanced than the United Federation in the late 23rd century, that is faced with determining the intentions of these galactic "upstarts" who could become a serious threat in time. Their test -- wonderfully complex and intricate, yet beautifully elegant -- is not of technology or ideology, but of character. The United Federation pass with flying colors and earn the respect of Balok (and presumably his government). A happy ending that really is well deserved. Compare and contrast this with the nonsense of the Q a hundred years later. Compare also the First Federation and the Borg, the antithesis of the First Federation in many ways, who, in their own way, test the United Federation for the same reasons as the First Federation. It is a shame that the First Federation never played a role in Star Trek beyond this one marvelous episode. I'd trade them for the Q AND the Borg in a minute. Sadly, it seems the writers assumed audiences would rather see a Caligula than a Marcus Aurelius.
Title : Empok Nor Rating : 2
Writers : Bryan Fuller Year : 2373
Review : For such a good series, this is a very disappointing episode. To be honest, I can never get past Star Fleet's piracy. I don't know what else to call raiding another government's property to steal their hardware. What's even worse, no one in Star Fleet seems to be bothered by this. Of course, they would be the first to pursue piracy AGAINST the United Federation, to the death if necessary. Doesn't anyone else think this is hypocritical?
Title : Transfigurations Rating : 3
Writers : Rene Echevarria Year : 2366
Review : Let me begin by saying that this is not a stellar episode. (Sorry about the pun.) Nonetheless, it does have the redeeming quality of introducing one of my favorite species, the Zalkonians. These are fascinating people: complex, sophisticated and utterly paralyzed in the face of change. (Sounds a lot like many humans, who treat change as evil and seek to find a "golden age" that existed only in their mind -- and was "golden" only for their race, religion or what have you.) The goal of the Zalkonian "inquisition" is to root out the likes of "John Doe," the Zalkonian "messiah," or so he is presented, complete with "laying on of hands" and miraculous healing! He is the embodiment of the establishment's fear of change. This could have been developed into an interesting episode. It was not. I don't know where the writers got derailed, but their little morality play laid an egg. The only positive outcome was the introduction of a new, powerful species that could have been developed in later Trek, but was not. Villains, heroes, who knows what the Zalkonians could have been. But I'll tell you, I bet the United Federation would have welcomed the Zalkonians with open arms to fight the Dominion or the Borg!
Title : Prime Factors Rating : 5
Writers : David R. George III, Eric A. Stillwell Year : 2371
Review : Much has been said about this episode and it is, for me, one of the better Voyager efforts. While the “prime directive” issue is very interesting, I like this episode because it introduces the Sikarians. Here is a peaceful (rare in the Delta Quadrant or anywhere else in the Trek universe), cultured and hospitable people who are advanced enough technologically to have created the trajector. Presuming they have other technologies of equivalent sophistication, one can imagine they can defend themselves well enough to keep unruly neighbors at bay and make life on their world a paradise (as it seems to be). Admittedly, they aren’t perfect, as the episode shows (they seem to share some traits with the denizens of the Think Tank), but they’re vastly preferable to most Delta Quadrant species. (Come to think of it, they’re vastly preferable to MOST Trek species.) I understand that the writers had thought the Sikarians could be the new “bad guys” for Voyager, rather like the Ferengi were supposed to be the new “bad guys” in TNG. Obviously, this didn’t happen and the Sikarians, sadly, were never seen again.
Title : Errand of Mercy Rating : 5
Writers : Gene L. Coon Year : 2267
Review : Wonderful episode. I really like the Klingons depicted here much more than those in later Trek offerings. They seem much more "real," not so unidimensional and cartoonish. Even their physical appearance works. My favorites of the episode, though, are the Organians. It's always interesting to see how very advanced beings deal with "mere mortals" like Humans and Klingons. The Organians seem to do a much better job of it than the Q, at least to my taste. (The Q seem strangely puerile to me, but that's perhaps because of the particular Q that's taken a "liking" to Humans.) They do seem to get a bit exasperated with Kirk, who certainly gets exasperated with them! Oddly, they seem to interact with Kor more easily. Perhaps they see hope for understanding in Kirk, but none in Kor, and keep trying to get Kirk to change his perspective on the situation. When they eventually give up on subtlety, it's quite a show indeed -- real Cecil B. DeMille stuff! I guess that's what it takes sometimes. Spock's reaction to the Organians is also interesting. He seems to appreciate their position better than K & K, though I think the "amoeba" reference is overstated. One wonders why the Organians didn't work with Spock rather than Kirk. Maybe they figured that since Kirk was in charge, at least of the Star Fleet side, he was the one to whom they had to make their appeal. That strikes me as a bit too much concern for "chain of command," but who knows how such beings view things like that.
Title : Bread and Circuses Rating : 3
Writers : Gene L. Coon, Gene Roddenberry Year : 2267
Review : This episode certainly has its weaknesses -- many weaknesses. The preposterous notion of "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development" is a very good example. But, this is canon, so we have to accept it, however nonsensical it may be. What I *like* about this episode, and why I gave it three stars, is the idea that the Roman state per se never fell, that much of the misery and suffering that followed the collapse of Rome in our world never took place (at least this is what is suggested in the episode). It's perhaps a bit simplistic to agree wholly with Gibbon that Christianity was the main reason for the debilitation of the Roman state, not being good for the "Roman fiber" as he said. Nonetheless, religious irrationalism and fanaticism did mortally wound the intellectual heart of the Roman and Hellenistic worlds, making science and other rational inquiry anathema and heretical, unless in service to orthodox dogma. Such was the case with Byzantium, the Christian take on the Roman state. Hardly something worth emulating. I've heard speculation, from Carl Sagan among others, that the Western world could have "skipped" the Dark Ages, perhaps all of the Middle Ages, had Rome not fallen to barbarism and irrationalism. By this, we would be 1000 years ahead of where we are now. Perhaps, we'll never know. But perhaps these folks on planet 892 IV were able to do just that. No evidence to that effect was clearly presented in the episode, but Spock does suggest that 892 IV did not have the three world wars that Earth had in the Trek universe. That alone seems a good reason to believe that the maintenance of the Roman state, without the pernicious influence of Christianity, was a good thing on balance. Now, to paraphrase Suetonius, so much for the good things about the episode. Now, the monstrous things. The writers decided that the introduction of Christianity by the "People of the Son" was just what the Roman state on planet 892 IV needed to make everything "just right"? This is utter nonsense. Plunging 892 IV into the Dark Ages, as likely as not to happen, is a good thing? What were they thinking? This seems utterly alien to Gene Roddenberry's ideas about religion. I've seen speculation that this episode was a "bone" the series threw to the conservative religious types who didn't like the "Godless" attitudes often expressed in TOS, attitudes pretty much in line with Gene's own beliefs. Yet, there are some jabs at all this hooey. Flavius Maximus, good "brother of the Son" that he is, wants to murder Kirk, Spock and McCoy when he first finds them. No questions, just off them. Nice ethics, guy! You probably would have enjoyed murdering Hypatia here on Earth for her "evil ways" – of being a scientist, and a WOMAN scientist at that, and NOT a "good Christian"!
Title : Valiant Rating : 3
Writers : Ronald D. Moore Year : 2374
Review : "Youth is wasted on the young." This episode illustrates beautifully the weakness that youthful arrogance brings. These *children* are intelligent, resourceful and well-trained; but they are unseasoned by wisdom and sorely lacking in compassion. It seems Star Fleet Academy doesn't teach critical thinking. A couple of philosophy courses would have done this crew a lot of good. Alas, instead, they are dead. But one cannot assign full blame to them and their youthful naiveté. They are products of a broken system that values obedience over moral fortitude and the TRUE courage it takes to stand up for what is right, regardless of the consequences. Well, Nog learned something, at least I hope he did. Jake comes out as the real hero of this little morality play. Good for him, good for all thinking people who challenge "group think" and the mob mentality, for they are the people who define civilization and keep us from sinking into barbarism.
Title : Paradise Lost Rating : 5
Writers : Ronald D. Moore Year : 2372
Review : This is arguably THE most important episode of DS9 -- of the entire Star Trek franchise. Why? Because it shows quite graphically exactly why the military should NEVER be in charge of the government. I never saw a better performance from Avery Brooks. I think he understood the gravity of the subject being discussed. Actually, everyone did a great job, from Brock Peters as Joseph Sisko to Colm Meaney as an ersatz Chief O'Brien. But the real star is the victory of right over wrong, of moral people of conscience over those who commit atrocities because they were "just following orders." I love the rehabilitation of Captain Benteen as she realizes that Admiral Leyton has betrayed Star Fleet and the United Federation. And what a chilling performance the very talented Robert Foxworth gives as the psychotic Admiral Leyton. In these days when we heap praise on going in with guns blazing, casually murdering innocents who "just get in the way" as "collateral damage," a re-viewing of this splendid morality play would be well advised.
Title : Tomorrow is Yesterday Rating : 4
Writers : D.C. Fontana Year : 2267
Review : Other reviews have summed up the basic pros and cons of this episode. My interest is in the way the issue of UFOs was treated. If any of you are familiar with the history of UFO sightings -- whatever your opinion of the validity of such sightings may be -- you will recognize the remarkable series of events just before Captain Christopher is beamed up to the Enterprise and just after he is beamed back to his aircraft: 1) detection by ground-based radar of a large, fast-moving object that appears, apparently out of nothing, and has an unknown radar signature; 2) fighter aircraft scrambled to intercept; 3) target acquisition by aircraft radar, confirming ground-based radar; 4) an energy beam emanating from the target that affects aircraft systems (and compromises structural integrity in this case); 5) anti-radar properties of the target (we might term this "low observability" now); and 6) sudden loss or target (target "vanishes"). These are hallmarks of many recorded UFO sightings from the 1950s & early 1960s -- sightings with which the writers might well have been familiar. (Does anyone know?) I am particularly intrigued by the similarity of events in this episode with events in the well-known case of Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Captain Thomas F. Mantell on 7 January 1948, while in pursuit of a UFO. (Tragically, Captain Mantel's P-51 crashed, resulting in his death.) Mantell was said to have stated that the object he was pursuing "look(ed) metallic and of tremendous size,” similar to Captain Christopher’s comment “whatever this is, it's big.” (Certainly not unique comments about a UFO, but an interesting parallel.) Some of the wilder claims about the Mantell incident were that an alien spacecraft had “shot down” his aircraft when it got too close, that Captain Mantell's body was missing, and that his aircraft had completely disintegrated in the air, all of which could describe what happened in this episode. I wonder if D.C. Fontana, the episode’s main writer, was familiar with and borrowed themes from the Mantell case for this episode.
Title : Evolution Rating : 1
Writers : Michael Piller, Michael Wagner Year : 2366
Review : The basics of "Evolution" have been described elsewhere, so I shall not recapitulate them. Rather, I should like to address the more idiotic and disturbing facets of this episode. First, the idiotic: Wesley the "wunderkind" screws up. No worries, though, as he apparently receives no punishment for jeopardizing the entire crew of the Enterprise and nearly ruining an important United Federation scientific experiment. No one even gets miffed with him. One wonders if he has compromising information about Capt. Picard. (o: Now, the disturbing. The "boy genius" has created a machine-based intelligence with a collective consciousness that has no concerns at threatening or even killing other life forms. I am describing the nanites from this episode, but I could pretty well be describing the Borg, too. As if this isn't bad enough, the UFP settles these creatures on a planet. How long will it take these nanites to turn on the incomprehensibly naive UFP? Dr. Stubbs was right to try to eradicate this menace. If someone had taken such action against the Borg when they were nascent, perhaps this blight might have been eliminated before it caused such devastation. One of the more moralistic and absurd episodes in TOS and the franchise.
Title : Paradise Rating : 2
Writers : James Crocker, Jim Trombetta Year : 2370
Review : This episode isn't bad, it's horrifying. It shows the level of depravity and evil to which we humans can sink in pursuit of our arrogance. This is hubris writ large. Alixus is the most evil character I have seen in all of Trek. Her rapacity is astonishing. She feels she has the “key to perfection” and is perfectly content to inflict the most grievous harm on others to further her mad goals and ambition. More horrifying, if such can be imagined, her deluded disciples on the planet and conspirators in the United Federation actually embrace what Alixus teaches. Sadly, humanity has not been “perfected” by the United Federation’s “peace and prosperity.” Might the greatest threat not be from without, but within? We humans, and all sentient beings (to keep this in the Trek universe), need to resist the temptation to “play God.” There are few people I think actually deserve assimilation by the Borg. Alixus is one.
Title : Retrospect Rating : 2
Writers : Mark Gaberman, Andrew Shepard Price Year : 2374
Review : I've seen this episode before -- a couple of times -- but viewing it now, in the odious light of STD, has given me a wholly new perspective. This episode would be impossible to air now, in late 2019. SPOILER ALERT. Kovin would have to be guilty. He would have to be judged, sentenced and executed, no doubt with a suitable Soviet-style "show trial" to make the proceedings more festive. Seven of Nine couldn't possibly be wrong, even if the facts of the case show otherwise. The facts are wrong, nothing but a pack of lies perpetrated by the "Patriarchy." (No doubt the force behind Section 31.) It is a testimony to the integrity of "Voyager" that ambiguity, the possibility for doubt, was allowed to be expressed. In the #MeToo movement's darling, STD, such subtlety and nuance would NEVER be allowed.
Title : Distant Origin Rating : 5
Writers : Brannon Braga, Joe Menosky Year : 2373
Review : It’s amazing how Star Trek at its best holds up a mirror to our society, showing the evils both of anti-scientific ideological rejectionism and “thought policing” in the service of totalitarianism. Very few episodes of Voyager, or any other part of the Star Trek franchise, do so as well as “Distant Origin.” It’s both magnificent and chilling. I do wonder if such an episode could be made today. Given the “political correctness” that seems to suffuse the current, dismal incarnation of Star Trek, I can neither imagine the chief villain of the Voth being female nor any of the male characters being depicted in a positive way. How far we've regressed in the 22 years since this episode’s creation.
Title : Homeward Rating : 0
Writers : William N. Stape, Spike Steingasser Year : 2370
Review : This episode is such a catastrophe that it is difficult to know where to start listing its failures. Let's start with "Dr." Rozhenko. Anyone who has studied the social sciences, as I have, knows that the kind of interference he undertakes is absolutely anathema to proper research methods, not to mention professional ethics. Yet, his behavior is disturbingly familiar. Real-world anthropologists, as well as many of their social science kin, characteristically decide that they, the intellectual elite ne plus ultra, are uniquely and solely qualified to make moral decisions. The rest of us hoi polloi are too intellectually and so morally enfeebled to be allowed an opinion, let alone agency -- unless it comes to forking over vast sums of money to support their folly. So, in review, "Dr." Rozhenko is an accurate representation of at least early 21st century academia. One hopes that he is the exception, rather than the rule, for the mid-24th century. Dr. Crusher, as usual, opines vociferously on matters about which she has painfully little understanding; but, ignorance notwithstanding, we MUST accept her radical chic nonsense, or we will be branded "enemies of the state" -- oh, sorry, that's STD. No wonder her spawn turned out to be a justly reviled character in Trek. Poor Worf. He's caught between doing what he knows is right and honorable -- keeping his sanctimonious sibling from taking the law into his own hands -- and caving in to support for "family," regardless of the immorality and indeed illegality of doing so. He, of course, chooses family over honor, confirming my long-held belief that the Klingons are little more than an interstellar version of the mafia, or the Crips and Bloods. The Romulans are right about them. And the good Captain Picard. Why doesn't he throw "Dr." Rozhenko into the brig and deliver him to the authorities? Laws? "We don't need no stinkin' laws!" Picard IS the law; a "god" mightier than the Prophets or the Q. (Didn't they erect a statue in his honor? I'll ask Dukat.) WWAD? What would Adama do? Probably "space" "Dr." Rozhenko -- or am I confusing him with John Sheridan? All of these megalomaniacs are so similar. "O brave new world, That has such people in't.”

© Graham & Ian Kennedy Page views : 7,657 Last updated : 19 Mar 2024