VOY – One

 

Plot – Nebulas are tenapenny to Voyager at this stage and they have adjusted to their debilitating effects. Janeway states in no uncertain terms that this one that has an even more adverse effect than the regular nebulas are not going to stop them getting home and I braced myself for another hour of Voyager experiences the weirdness of travelling through space. Maybe Neelix will get spottier again? Or it will contain another sex alien that wants to hump Voyager. What actually transpires is something much more sinister. Rather than focussing on the whole crew (because this is a real mixed bunch), the writer instead chooses to focus on Seven (always a good idea in seasons four and five) and her fear of being alone. Instead of churning out another Trek weird science episode it goes for the psychological jugular and to impressive effect for some of its running time.

The tension comes not from Tom Paris crawling around the ship in pain (because Duncan McNeill isn’t up to portraying those scenes convincingly) but with Wade Williams’ creepy alien visitor who is either taking advantage of Seven’s isolation (he’s disturbingly flirty) or a figment of her imagination working against her. The line this episode draws between the two is expertly done for some time and Williams’ performance really helps to give the character some seedy presence.

Character – This is a terrific showcase for Seven in a season that showcased the character to the extreme because it was, at the time, the best thing it had going for it. That’s not to say that it always gets the character perfect because there was a few moments where I questioned her stupidity for the sake of the writers attempts at comedy (would Seven really ask a ton of questions to Torres and Kim and not wait to hear their answers when she is trying to learn how to integrate socially? Thank goodness it is a holosuite programme because Torres would probably have smacked her down in the real world). We’ve gone from not being able to trust Seven for an instant to her enormous development over the season to the point where she can now be trusted to look after the safety of the entire crew. At the penultimate episode of the year, this is a huge vote of confidence in the character from Janeway and the crew. Ultimately this is Seven’s chance to truly prove herself to the people she has chosen to live her life with and she takes that responsibility very seriously (like everything else, although I love the acerbic jokes that the Doctor makes at her expense in that respect, which she rebuts perfectly). Seven choosing to sit with her crewmates at the climax might not sound like a revolutionary act but it’s the first real sign that she is going to integrate into the crew.

Performance – We’ve not really seen Seven this desperate or panicked before and Ryan doesn’t disappoint. She manages to somehow keep that icy coolness even when screaming out in fear. She really was quite a find.

Watch very closely in the last act where Seven hallucinates the crew behaving in a very hostile way towards her…only Kate Mulgrew can pull this off with any verve. Everybody else sounds a little embarrassed. Anyone who suggests that Mulgrew, Picard and Ryan are the strongest members of this ensemble is highly perceptive in my book.

Terrible Dialogue – ‘Should we replicate you a teddy bear?’ HARRY KIM MUST DIE.

Production – It’s not until you empty the sets of actors that you realise just how functional and claustrophobic they can be, despite their size. Kenneth Biller deserves a lot of credit for his creative use of the camera to explore the Voyager sets and the lighting is especially good to make the rooms feel more oppressive and like they are closing in on Seven.

Best moment – I still adore the shot of Seven, alone and afraid, in Engineering as the camera pulls back to reveal her alone in the huge set. It’s the showcase moment of the episode.

Worst moment – How wonderful is the moment on the Bridge when all the crewmembers have to act as if they have all eaten a poisonous stew of Neelix’s concoction and clutch themselves in pain? It’s really very funny watching them all convulsing and groaning.

I wish they hadn’t done that – I admire the ambition of the sequence where the turbolift opens and Seven finds herself facing the interior of a Borg cube, but it doesn’t really convince. Think what they could do with that sequence today.

A reason to watch this episode again – Stripping the show of everybody but Seven and the Doctor…how can this be anything but a good thing? One is a little thin on plot but full of juicy insights into Seven and her isolationist phobia. It’s an episode that I enjoyed far more when I watched the series in sequence than as a standalone experience because it is expertly placed in the season to have maximum effect on Seven’s character development. It’s a well-crafted piece visually but Star Trek wasn’t known for pushing psychological horror and so this still stays on the side of family friendly. If this would made for today’s audience, I am sure the claustrophobic terrors would be more shocking and the effect on Seven far more distressing. Ultimately this was a fun shipboard episode that highlights Jeri Ryan’s not inconsiderable talents as an actress and when all is said and done that is enough of an excuse for an episode for me. What drags this back is a little too much emphasis on technobabble and not enough emphasis on psychology, which means that Jeri Ryan has got the wrong hat on when writing this. A lot of the best work is done by the actors and the director.

***1/2 out of *****

Clue for the next episode: 

DS9 – For the Cause

 
Plot – The teaser is great for two reasons; Kassidy is easily the most predictable answer to the question of who on the station might be a Maquis smuggler and yet it then promises to be a tense and terse thriller ahead as Sisko and security services attempt to prove that. There’s certainly an argument to be made that Sisko behaves in a compromised way because the person under suspicion is the person who shares his bed. This feels dynamic and uncomfortable because it means we are not only second-guessing Kassidy throughout, but Sisko too. 

Character – How nice to feature one of the Captain’s of Starfleet in an ongoing relationship with a sparky, confident woman who can more than hold her own with him. See the universe didn’t explode. Seeing Sisko wake up next to Kassidy, flirt with her, try and drag her back to bed and then smell her pillow once she departs shouldn’t feel revolutionary (in any other franchise this would be second nature) but on Trek it is a huge leap forward in how you can portray the leads. And Sisko, the most human of all the Captains, embraces this relationship with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. So it is typical (in dramatic terms) that Odo and Eddington choose this moment to accuse Sisko’s lover of being a Maquis smuggler. His first reaction is to reject the claim but he knows as a Starfleet Officer he has to follow up on their suspicions. There’s a natural chemistry between Ben, Jake and Kassidy that makes breaking up this little family that is emerging all the more upsetting. There’s a very sweet moment when Sisko, after learning that Kassidy has met with a Maquis freighter, grabs Jake’s hand at breakfast and tells him their relationship is worth protecting even if other people come and go. It’s so refreshing to see such a wholesome father/son relationship on television. It’s only the fact that Kassidy chose to face her punishment rather than running that ultimately salvages their relationship. 

You remember when Voyager planted Michael Jonas in their ranks and had him making secret communications with Seska? That was played out over the course of about ten episodes. Eddington is DS9’s attempt to do that but vastly superior because it plays out over two seasons and within that time Eddington has a vital role to play in a fair handful of episodes (The Search, The Die Is Cast, The Adversary, Our Man Bashir) and is very much part of the crew by the time his treachery is revealed. He is remarkably slick in how he orchestrates this entire affair; using Kassidy and Sisko’s feelings for her as a massive smokescreen before manoeuvring himself into the right position to steal the replicators. People have had their suspicions about Eddington for some time but its isn’t until he actually pulls out a phaser and guns Kira down that his true colours are revealed.

DS9 is the ensemble where when nothing is said, it means a lot. During the briefing where they learn that Cardassia will be getting 12 CFI replicators, Worf, Kira and Odo clearly have very different opinions about that knowledge but they don’t have to say a word. In a fascinating moment, O’Brien expresses sympathy for the Maquis and their plight and you are left with no illusion that if his home had been handed over to the Cardassians then he would be one of them.

Is Garak attracted to Ziyal? I think there is one answer to that question and it doesn’t have to invalidate the opinion that he is hugely attracted to Bashir either. He’s Star Trek’s first openly bisexual character and a complex sexuality goes hand in hand naturally with his complex character. Bashir even looks a little grumpy and jealous when Garak expresses an interest and the most engaging thing that the writers could do with the character is for him to take a shine to Gul Dukat’s daughter (given their history) and a minor at that. As he mentions in this episode he is exiled, lonely and a long way from home. He misses the company of other Cardassians.

Performance – Avery Brooks really came out of his shell in season four. I’m not suggesting that he didn’t give fine performances in the earlier years but both the characterisation of Sisko and his performance both stepped up a notch once Worf joined the show and the series went to war. For the Cause is another showcase for the actor, showing him playing some morally dubious material. Brooks takes it all in his stride.

Great Dialogue – ‘I am a Starfleet Officer, the paragon of virtue’ ‘You’re more like a parody of virtue.’
‘Miss me?’ ‘Were you gone?’ ‘Admit it, without me you cried yourself to sleep.’
‘Nobody wants to leave paradise. Everyone should want to be in the Federation. Hell, you even want the Cardassians to join! You’re only sending them replicators because one day they can take their rightful place on the Federation Council. You know in some ways, you’re even worse than the Borg. At least they tell you about their plans for assimilation. You’re more insidious. You assimilate people, and they don’t even know it.’ Eddington condemns the Federation and what they stand for. I partly agree with what he is saying here. People have been shat on in order to maintain peace, the Federation does have a superior attitude that permeates through the Trek franchise and sometimes the politics of this great alliance are highly questionable. Eddington calls all that out. But he’s fighting bureaucracy with violence and that is where his argument falls flat. But there is much more on that later.
‘You know what, Mr Eddington? I don’t give a damn what you think of the Federation, the Maquis or anything else. All I know is that you have betrayed your oath, your duty and me. And if it takes me the rest of my life I will see you standing before a court-martial that’ll break you and send you to a penal colony where you will spend the rest of your days growing old and wondering if a ship full of replicators was really worth it.’ Eddington has gotten Avery Brooks mad. Big mistake.

Best moment – Kira storming into Garak’s shop, shoving him against the wall and threatening to do unspeakable things if he messes about with Ziyal. No other show would flaunt such open hostility amongst its core regulars.

That glorious moment of drama when Sisko realises he has been played, that the only reason he is commanding the Defiant and away from the station is because Kassidy is involved and that something is about to go down on DS9. Suspense is the key word and suddenly this episode has it in spades.

I wish they hadn’t done that – Sisko gives Kassidy an out in a scene that is so blatantly scripted that she would have to a fool not to spot the fact that he knows what she has been up to. It’s played as though she knows exactly what he is saying but she has made a commitment and she is going to follow it through. My issue isn’t the characterisation (which is as multifaceted as I expect on this show) but the fact that Sisko has no fallback in trying to aide and abet a terrorist sympathiser who is actively pursuing work that is anti-Federation. They would have had every right to throw the book at him. Conversely, I love the fact that he does try and save her before she is exposed because it makes him all the more human and flawed.

A reason to watch this episode again – Dark and sneaky, this tight character tale takes the Maquis storyline and makes it personal in a way it would never be again. For the Cause is pretty much all talk but it has a fantastic premise at its heart and drama springs forth because Sisko is put in an immediately compromising position. Everyone has been wondering about Kassidy and Eddington ever since they arrived on the station and now their true colours are revealed but in true DS9 style it saves the big dramatic moment for the character you expect the least of, rather than the one you expect the most of. Political and personal drama is DS9’s meat and potatoes and with a taut Ronald D. Moore script and some unforgettable performances (the last scene between Sisko and Eddington had me on the edge of my seat), this is another example of how this series pushed the enveloper with both of these things in a very impressive way. The answers this episode delivers aren’t pleasant, and neither are the things it says about Sisko and how his personal life can corrupt his command. It’s that kind of muckiness in television that I love.

****/12 out of *****

Clue for the next episode: 

The Nimon Be Praised - First Season Complete!

It's been a terrifically fun couple of months putting together our first season of The Nimon Be Praised! We've covered eras (RTD), companions (Ace, Donna, Romana, Sarah), individual stories (The Ribos Operation, The Chase, Planet of the Daleks), tackled controversial topics (the Chibnall era, Steven Moffat's impenetrable arcs, killing off people of colour), and laughed ourselves silly (mostly at our guilty pleasure stories - Time and the Rani and The Girl Who Died).

I've assembled the first ten episodes here for anybody who might want to take a listen. We've got our specially created logo and theme music (Dudley Simpson inspired!), you'll be treated to a dreadfully melodramatic Horns of Nimon quote at the beginning of each episode and plenty of irreverent and fun asides along the way. 

Any rates and reviews on Itunes or Google Podcasts much appreciated! 

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss The Ribos Operation

In their debut episode, Jack and Joe tackle the opening story of series sixteen. Discussion of Robert Holmes, the season arc, the production, the double acts and shine much light on why they love this story.

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss Underworld

Jack and Joe bring all their deductive powers to the fore and study the 1977 story Underworld to try find some positives to say! In this episode we are interrupted by the postman, discuss whether the enjoyment of special effects spoils or enhances our experience of watching Doctor Who, try and come to the conclusion of whether watching Underworld adds enjoyment to our week and figure who would play certain characters if this was a New Series episode today! You might think it is impossible to spend two hours talking about Underworld...but never underestimate The Nimon Be Praised! 

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss Ace

This week Jack and Joe tackle the apparently unstoppable companion known as Ace. Was she the secret weapon of the Sylvester McCoy era on television? Did anyone like this actually exist in the eighties? Should she have been locked up as a modern day vandal? Just how many stories HAS she featured in? And do her books and audios count? All this and more fabulous Nimon quotes, Joe battling with his phone alarm and Jack using his finest charm to consider how he would get on on a date with Ace. The Nimon Be Praised! is back!

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss Their Guilty Pleasures

It's time for Jack & Joe to confess their sins and reveal their Doctor Who guilty pleasures. Much laughter ensues as they attempt to convince one another that Time and the Rani, The Girl Who Died, Planet of the Daleks and The Husbands of River Song are all deliriously enjoyable. Which story is the campest? Does one feature a Doctor Who can make you believe in any scenario? Why is everything in a Jamie Mathieson story so rubbish? And would Husbands have been a good place for Steven Moffat to step off? All this and much, much more. We had a riot recording this episode...we hope you all enjoy it.
There are a few moments (just moments) where the time lagged but it shouldn't affect your enjoyment.

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss The Russell T.Davies era Part 0.5

Join Jack & Joe as they take a waltz through the Russell T. Davies era. Well, that was the idea. Instead we only got halfway through season one AND singularly failed to remember The Long Game (which we will come back to). It’s an era with plenty to unpick and we will be come back to it in half season segments. Was Rose the ultimate audience identification character? Is The Unquiet Dead quite unmemorable in retrospect? And are the Slitheen the secret weapon of series one? All this is and much much more as we both learn that when talking about Doctor Who, we can’t do things by halves.

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss The Chase

Join Jack & Joe as they brave the sunny plains of Aridius, discover the truth about the Marie Celeste, step into the collective fears of humanity and witness all out robot war on Mechanus. The Chase has come in for a lot of flack over the years and we build a surprisingly positive case for the story, whilst generously acknowledging its faults. Does this story feature the ultimate Doctor Who ball sac monster? Should Morton Dill have skipped into the TARDIS instead of Steven? And we might have a very solid idea why these particular Daleks are so thick. All this and we say goodbye to Ian and Barbara in another exciting instalment of The Nimon Be Praised!

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss A Good Man Goes to War 

Nimon at War! Join Jack & Joe in their most combative episode yet, as they take opposing sides on the series six mid season finale A Good Man Goes to War. Is this a responsible criticism of the Doctor...or does Matt Smith simply not have the gravitas to pull off what is being asked of him? Are the characters written with a pleasant lightness of touch...or does nobody come across with any authenticity? And does the series deserve applause for attempting a season arc this structured...or is the whole piece fatally flawed? All this and discussion of the shows production, character assassination and potentially the sickest moment in all of Doctor Who. Hop on board as The Nimon Be Praised! tackle a Steven Moffat spectacular. 

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss The Woman Who Fell to Earth

Join Jack & Joe as they broach the potentially controversial subject of the Chibnall/Whittaker era of the show. An episode we both enjoy, it gives us the chance to delve into the positives and the negatives of the era even if we have a very different opinion of the era as a whole. Was it finally time for a female Doctor? Is three companions too many? Was it time to return to simpler, character focussed Doctor Who? And was the shift from Capaldi to Whittaker the biggest tonal shift the show has ever taken? All this and much more as we take on one of the most divisive eras in modern Who...

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss Their Favourite Companions (Joe Edition)

Join a slightly sleepy Jack and Joe as they discuss their top three companions across the entirety of classic and new Who. This week we focus on Joe’s favourites. Who is the ultimate career woman of the sixties? Which companion worked beautifully in five iterations? And which new series companion surprised us all with her great depth and wonderful humour? All this and more in this enthused episode that celebrates the Doctor’s friends.

The Nimon Be Praised! Discuss Their Favourite Companions (Jack Edition)

Join Jack & Joe as they take another waltz around the delightful task of discussing their favourite companions. This week Jack is in the spotlight with Martha Jones, Romana and Bill Potts receiving these accolades. Which was the best Romana? Was Martha the most resilient of all companions? And was Bill where Steven Moffat finally got his companions right? All this and more in another thrilling instalment of The Nimon Be Praised!

TNG – The Wounded

Plot – A Federation Officer (literally the pride of the service) committing a terrorist act in Cardassian space? Sometimes TNG races to a really punchy premise in its pre-title sequences that not only promise a great episode ahead but would have to be the work of true incompetents to get it wrong. I was longing for this kind of episode; one that deals with racism head on and from the human point of view. Long have I lamented that certain human characters express disturbing racist views (McCoy, Archer, O’Brien) in this supposedly xenophobia free Utopia and for TNG to tackle that head on in all its ugliness is a definite tick in its favour.

Character – How interesting to see Worf spreading anti-Cardassian feeling on the Bridge. Once he transfers to DS9 that feeling is still very much there, especially in his dealings with Garak. It’s not until the two of them are trapped in an impossible situation together that he starts to find some common ground with the species.

You can see why people might have developed an issue with Keiko when she tries to force feed her husband fish food for breakfast (mind you the muck he rakes up for her later in the episode looks even worse). What I love about this couple is not only are they the longest running relationship across the entirety of Star Trek and not used as some kind of grandstanding romance to get bums on seats but instead used as a peek into domestic life on a Starship/Station, but they are also a convincing mixed race couple where that is never brought into the equation in a derogatory way. The two of them having a nice breakfast in their quarters and being interrupted by a torpedo hitting the ship gives a pleasingly fresh view of how normal life can be disrupted on the Enterprise.

The look that Troi gives O’Brien when the Cardassians arrive speaks volumes. She’s astonished at such a feeling of hate from one race to another. And check out the venom O’Brien throws at the Cardassian in the turbolift when he asks him to share a drink with him in Ten Forward. O’Brien is the perfect character to funnel this episode through because he is such a nice everyday bloke that is so well respected…and so to see this unpleasant side of his character emerge not only gives him a great deal of substance but it impacts all the more because I do like him as a character. Condemning racism is easy, it’s abhorrent. Condemning racism when it is coming from an otherwise nice bloke is far more uncomfortable. Maybe he has a good reason to be how he is, that still doesn’t make the censure of an entire species acceptable. I love how the Cardassians are made to look ugly and unpleasant and yet the two Officers that converse with O’Brien are very pleasant company. It makes his outright rejection of them much more interesting. How fascinating that O’Brien observes that other people still have a hatred of Cardassians, when he is really talking about himself. He doesn’t hate Cardassians, he hates what the Cardassians have turned him into. That is possibly the most interesting route the episode could have taken. Self-loathing and how it manifests.

Picard is the ultimate diplomat in a crisis situation here; calm, collected, respectful and intelligent. This is the Captain Picard of legend. When confronted with Maxwell and his paranoid delusions, Picard is firm with a man he respects greatly. He has to bring him in to answer for his crimes and that is exactly what he is going to do.

Great Dialogue: ‘It smells musty in here. Like a bureaucrats office’ – Maxwell condemns Picard’s inaction and political chains.
‘Take this message to your leaders, Gul Macet. We’ll be watching…’ I actually stopped breathing after Picard made his threat.

Performance – There’s not one performance that is off here. The cast all do stellar work.

Production – Plenty of adjustments are made to the Cardassians in the following years once the franchise decided that they were going to be one of the big hitters in the Quadrant. Whilst I am far more accustomed to the bulkier uniform and realistic make up job, I do like how they are introduced here. The bizarre bondage gear around the Legate’s head is pretty creepy and the reptilian aspect of their nature is empathised dramatically. I’m not sure about the uniforms here, though. They are far too simple. Thankfully it is Marc Alaimo inside the costume and he is as impressive as ever.

You might think that watching a couple of blips having a space fight on a screen is a money saving exercise (saves paying out for expensive effects) but the scene concentrates on Picard and Macet’s reactions, which is where the drama lies.

Best moment – Colm Meaney telling the story of O’Brien’s experiences on Setlik III. My heart was in my mouth the whole time.

The ending is like an emotional punch in the gut. TNG had moments like this that come out of nowhere and really got under your skin. They really surprise because this was a show that liked to play it safe for a fair amount of its run. Two old war veterans sit in the tatters of Maxwell’s career and sing a song to respect the dead, honour their history and accept Maxwell’s defeat. We only spend a few scenes with Maxwell and the feels I felt for him here are greater than I do for many of the regular cast on this show.

Worst moment – It’s a shame that the Cardassians do appear to be up to no good in this episode because it guts the piece of its point. That you cannot condemn an entire species for their past. What’s more DS9 proves Maxwell right, eventually the Federation is at war with the Cardassians and they should have done well to fear them even at this early stage.

I wish they hadn’t done that – Troi states that because the Cardassians are an ally to the Federation that they have to be trusted. What a naive point of view. They have to be respected, certainly politically, but there are a wealth of episodes that see them behaving in a truly insidious and politically devious way in both TNG and DS9.

A reason to watch this episode again – Whilst it has pretentions of exploring a much larger political game, The Wounded comes down to one man facing his prejudice and realising that he isn’t quite as perfect as society would like him to be. This is the emergence of O’Brien as a major player in the Star Trek universe and a character that would continue to be our eyes and ears for over a decade of stories to come. It’s fascination because the usual pattern is for the characters with extreme views on this show to be dealt with and punished in one episode. This is much more complicated than that and the fact that O’Brien can be seen going through such a struggle and to come out of it a much more rounded character suggests that the crew of the Enterprise is entering a period of more sophisticated characterisation (adding Ro to the roster is another positive step). Not everybody is perfect in Roddenberry’s universe and that is a bold and brilliant statement to make. Colm Meaney rarely gets the sort of recognition he deserves but in 14 seasons of Star Trek he never gave a less than exemplary performance and in episodes like this one that give him some truly juicy material to play, he nails it perfectly. This is one episode that holds up extremely well today and is more important to watch than ever. If only a contingent of society that hates without reason could be as self-reflective as O’Brien.

****1/2 out of *****

Clue for next episode: