DS9 - Chrysalis

Plot: I suppose the big question is did we need a return appearance of the Jack Pack after their memorable debut in Statistical Probabilities last year and your answers depends on how much mileage you think they have as characters. I often complain that Star Trek introduces one shot wonder characters that get their moment in the sun but no chance to further expand their characters (mostly in shows on the move like TNG and VOY) and DS9 has a better hit rate of bringing people back to further delve into the depths of their character. Sometimes it backfires because the characters are really dreary (Bariel, Shakaar) and other times it works beautifully because the characters continue to evolve and become part of this shows ongoing secondary cast (Kai Winn, Garak). The Jack Pack were memorable because they so far outside the norm of what Star Trek usually presents us; a group of socially inept, almost dangerously unpredictable genetically enhanced people who have been embarrassingly shuffled aside by the 'perfect' Federation society into an Institute. It was a fascinating comment on what a society does when it has square pegs trying to fit into its round holes and the answer is to study and control them. They were very likeable because of their extreme character traits and broad performances. So the question is does the show take them to the next level here...or calm them down a little? Is it DS9 increasing it's repertoire of recurring characters or flogging something again that has already been covered? They're essentially cartoon characters here, to provide comic relief whilst the sweet and tragic story of Serena unfolds around them. Jack's obsession with changing the cosmological constant is amusing, but I'd say that Lauren's vampish behaviour and Patrick's ability to cry at the drop of a hat verge on the side of caricature here. 

Character: Rene Echevarria manages to succinctly reveal just how alone Bashir is in about 30 seconds as all of his friends dash off to various social activities without him. Most of them are in relationships by now, which has continued to elude him. He's such a handsome, smart man that it is hard to imagine why that would be...until he opens his mouth. Instead he spends his evening in bed studying mutating viruses. Poor Bashir was considered a bit of a pariah in the first couple of seasons because he was characterised so irritatingly as a man who never knew when to shut up, close his legs and keep his opinion to himself. I'm of the opinion that the reveal of his genetic manipulation by his parents was a bold and brilliant move that reversed the fortunes of the character in the early years. Suddenly there was a reason why Bashir was so eager to impress, and achieved so highly at school, and tried so desperately to make friends. He was an outsider, he was different. And it meant that Siddig was able to measure his performance a great deal more and tackle way more exciting plotlines. So bringing in a series of characters who reveal how things could have (and probably should have) gone for him was a great idea. There but for the grace of God, go I. 

Sisko is such a thoughtful, considerate man but sometimes he has to tow the Starfleet line as the lead of this show. He's there to remind Bashir that this bunch of misfits once threatened to bring down the Federation in favour of the Dominion in their previous appearance, and shows appropriate horror at them turning up and posing as an Admiral and their staff. 

Hurrah for Ezri Dax for reminding Bashir of what an abject failure he is. What a counsellor she turned out to be. 

Performance: Salie silently stole the show in Statistical Probabilities and really gets to show off what she can do here. It's a warm and childlike turn, with moments of haunting silence when you realise she is always on the verge of withdrawing again when things get too overwhelming. 

Sparkling Dialogue: 'That's a stupid question' 'Will you stop saying that!' Turns out you can shove on an Admiral's uniform and stroll onto DS9 with a bad attitude and say this a few times and you're access all areas. Or at least you are if you happen to bump into Nog.  

'I have a new man in my life...that gorgeous little Ferengi.' 

'If I had to find someone to replace Atlas and hold up the world it'd be Miles. He'd do it with a smile too.' 

The Good: You might say that the Do-Re-Mi sequence is indulgent and unnecessary but I think it is a well choreographed and performed song that serves a genuinely plot purpose. Serena learns how to speak again the most beautiful fashion and Bashir sees that spark of life in her that really attracts her to him. It's one of my most played scenes in DS9's run because it is so damn catchy. You have been warned. Hurrah for O'Brien who is the only person who actually says the words 'Julian, she's your patient' and looks a little uncomfortable about the whole thing. Mind, I think the episode is suggesting he's unhappy because Serena has taken his boy toy away (especially given the lengths they go to to not say how much they love each other later in the season). 

The Bad: The only reason I cannot imagine that Julian Bashir's friends don't point out that his behaviour towards Serena is predatory is because they understand that he is a lonely guy who means well. But if you had a friend who was a Doctor who worked hard to get a patient out of a catatonic state but then emerged as essentially a child and then he tried to seduce that patient...wouldn't you have a few things to say? What helps is the sincere performances of Siddig and Faith Salie and their terrific chemistry but at the back of my head I couldn't help ask why this wasn't ethically forbidden. Or someone didn't just say 'oh yuck.' The weirdest moment comes when Julian makes the suggestion he takes this duckling to Risa for a frisky holiday. I would have excised that line completely. Almost as bad as him breaking into her quarters when she doesn't turn up on their date. 

Result: Julian Bashir. The only man a woman will fake a coma to prevent from going on a date with him. 90s Trek romance have a track record of being of unconvincing chemistry or being packed too densely into 40 minutes of screen time with no chance of the pairing to convince. Think Meridian, Unforgettable and any episode featuring Leah Brahms. Neither one of these is a problem with Chrysalis because the chemistry between the actors has been established in a previous episode and the episode takes it's time to establish the couple and why they might turn to each other. However it completely fails to approach the ethical issues of a man in a medical profession taking advantage of somebody in his care. That's the elephant in the room here and I find it very odd that it isn't addressed more thoughtfully, especially for a show that is willing to embrace thorny subjects like DS9. We know Bashir isn't that sort of man these days but if he was a one shot Doctor character and Serena was our regular in distress I wonder how this would play out. The episode ensures that our sympathies are with both characters and it is beautifully acted and scored. Bashir's salvation comes when he realises what a douche he is being and pulls back from could have been the relationship he has always longed for for her own good. This is sweet episode, with slightly icky undertones that stop it from being the best DS9 single episode romance (for my money that is still Rejoined). The Jack Pack provide some nice laughs along the way. Essentially this is paving the way for the Bashir/Ezri romance later in the season. 

*** out of ***** 

TNG - Peak Performance

Plot: One thing that the first couple of years of TNG could get very right is the fun premise. Planet of the super weapons. A planet with a creature made of pure hate and rage. Scorpions taking over Starfleet Academy. That sort of thing. Where they go wrong is in executing these ideas most of the time. Peak Performance scores a double win because it not only excites with its ideas - a war game featuring Picard and Riker going head to head - but it manages to drive a great deal of mileage and entertainment out of it too. I loved the motive behind this simulation too; Picard feeling that the Borg threat is strong enough that it is prudent that his officers undergo tactical exercises to ensure battle readiness. It feels like TNG is pulling itself in a particular direction for once, and all roads are leading to The Best of Both Worlds at the end of season three. 

Character: You can actually feel the gears shifting as the writers figure out how to make this cast of characters work in an ensemble script where everybody has plenty to do, everyone has their own opinion that they own, each of them brings their individual skills and everyone gets something to do. Data is impressed by Kolrami's Stratagema ability, Riker gets to be sly and cunning in the battle simulation, Geordi is salivating at the chance to take on the Enterprise in a battered old ship, Worf has his ego poked about until he gets involved in the game, Picard is wary but a little arrogant to be in charge of the superior ship in the fight, Pulaski wants to bring Kolrami down a peg or two...everyone gets their moment. And somehow you just know that Wesley is going to save the day. I think she's always pretty great but Pulaski is extra fun in this episode where she is determined to see Data best Kolrami at Stratgema and puncture his ego. It's a shame that she wasn't characterised as cheekily as this throughout because the wider audience might have warmed to her far more than they did (and I think I might only the only person who really loves this character and prefers her to Dr Bev). Picard calls Riker the finest officer that he has ever served with, a far cry from his brusque appraisal of him in Encounter at Farpoint. Maybe there is more character development in this series than I thought. It's more likely how Patrick Stewart's performance has softened over the two seasons.  

Ray Brocksmith gives an unforgettable turn as Kolrami, a character that is designed to be annoying and so given the fact that he achieves that in spades means it is an enormous success. He's rude, arrogant, opinionated and self obsessed. Star Trek could use a few more characters with those kind of flaws. It's a shame that Brocksmith is in high demand because I could see this impish irritant making fun re-appearances in the same vein as Lwaxana Troi. The second Kolrami suggests that Riker is wanting as a first officer you just know that he is going to win the battle and prove him wrong. The fun comes with watching how he does that, besting even a strategist of Kolrami's calibre. 

Somehow, and I'm convinced it is only because the other characters (Pulaski and Troi) prescribe him with emotions, they manage to pull off the 'Data has a crisis of confidence' episode. he's mostly in his quarters trying to find a malfunction because he was beaten by a humanoid at something (which rather suggests he arrogantly has been programmed to think that can never be the case) and refusing to take his place on the Bridge unless he gives unsound advice. Doesn't this sound trite? It's not, it's really fun, and it mostly works because Brent Spiner is so good at playing the emotions card whilst maintaining his robotic air and also because it once again allows us to see just how much his crewmates care about him. The scene where Pulaski bulldozes into his quarters and tells him he has had his ego knocked by defeat is pure Bones/Spock material, but it really works with these characters. 

Sparkling Dialogue: 'Because when someone is that smug you have to deflate them, just a little...' 

'We're less than one hour away from a battle simulation and I have to hand hold an android' 'The burdens of Command.' 

The Good: The irony is that whilst Worf is complaining that the bridge of the Hathaway is 'not good', it is far more exciting a space to shoot in than the Enterprise bridge. Cramped, underlit and strewn with wires and cobwebs, it makes for a great alternative to the Enterprise. Wesley teaches Riker the difference between cheating and improvising in what is probably his best written scene to date. Finally they have stopped writing this kid as a precocious child and started writing him as a smart young man with some wit about him. There's a wonderfully witty sequence where Data tries to second and even triple guess what Commander Riker's moves will be. The only conclusion he can draw is that he will be as cunning as a fox. The build up to the battle is so good that when it finally starts in the final fifteen minutes and Picard and Riker are smiling at each other as the flag is waved I was completely behind this premise. I was eager to see how this played out. It's so fun to see Patrick Stewart enjoying himself so much. I don't think he smiled convincingly once in the first season. Too busy calculating how much the flight back to Britain would be. Riker looks fantastic slouched on the bridge of the Hathaway. 

The Bad: Can you think of a more shocking space name than Sirna Kolrami. It has all the hallmarks of desperation; heavy consonants, an 'i' at the end and it is almost impossible to say without sounding like a total twat. And poor Patrick Stewart is tasked with the challenge. This also takes place in the Braslota system. Good grief. 

Result: Can you imagine a more jolly premise than splitting the Enterprise crew in two and having them fight one another in a battle simulation? It means we get to see the best of all the characters (even Wesley) as they try and outfox one another. It's an particularly strong effort for Riker, who gets to be humble (taking on Kolrami at Stratagema despite the fact that he knows he will lose), arrogant (I don't think he ever thinks he is going to lose the simulation) and sly (his final gambit with Wesley is a stroke of genius). Frakes is clearly loving the chance to shine. Apparently the producers were wary of a story that featured a battle because space fights are an expensive affair (then forgive me why would you set your show in space?) but for once I am pleased that they went with the pricey option because this story just gets better and better as we head towards the climax. What I love is that it isn't a phaser or photon torpedo that wins the day but a moment of guile. This ridiculously entertaining and it's TNG emerging out of a sea of mediocrity at the tail end of season two proving that this cast can be a joy to watch when they are written this adroitly. Just when you think things can't get any better, Armin Shimmerman turns up as a really dodgy Ferengi. 

****1/2 out of ***** 

VOY - Prey

Plot: This is easily the best attempt to give the Hirogen a sense of identity in Voyager's run and it successfully paints them (hoho) as a hunting species with a unique culture. Since we learnt nothing of value about them in Hunters, which was primarily concerned with the letters from home from the Alpha Quadrant, this is our one real chance to develop a backstory before they are written out in the next story. Kudos for having a four episode run with a species, mind. Usually we end up with these one shot wonders that we forget about by the end of the credits. 

I loved the little surprises peppered throughout, but the best one comes during a commonplace technobabble exposition scene where B'lanna is suddenly interrupted when a Species 8472 falls on her head after climbing up the warp core. Artificial gravity suddenly disengaging and sending Tuvok flying is another uncommon moment.  

The best turn in the plot comes when we realise that the creature was just trying to get home, which makes the Hirogen the real monsters in this story and suddenly turns the whole story on its head. 

Character: It honestly doesn't matter what the writers give Robert Picardo and Jeri Ryan to do in a scene together on Voyager, you can guarantee that it is going to be doozy. And the nerve of the Doctor teaching Seven to improve her bedside manner! In a lovely touch, the Doctor tells Seven that Kes used to help him with this kind of modified behaviour which reminds the audience of the one in/one out swap that occurred at the start of the season that has been entirely successful and yielded much better results for the show. I'm not saying that those three years that we got to follow Kes and the Doctor were worthless (far from it, it provided excellent development for both characters) but I will happily endorse that the Doctor/Seven relationship is on another level and far more amusing and touching to observe. I love the fact that the Doctor describes his efforts to improve his bedside manner painful. 

Was Janeway mad to step on board the ship of a species that has been a threat until this point? Starfleet curiosity versus tactical efficiency seems to be the dilemma of the day and it gives a another terrific opportunity for Janeway and Seven to go head to head. I'm now convinced that these scenes, specifically those in series four and five before Seven was neutered a little, to be the best of the series of this episodes is one of the best examples of their fireworks. Janeway wants to extend compassion towards the Hirogen, something that would ultimately lead to a truce with the species at the end of The Killing Game. But Seven is convinced that they would attack and be a major threat to the ship, which also happens in The Killing Game so Prey puts the characters in a position where they are both ultimately right. What it affords is the sizzling Mulgrew/Ryan chemistry, leaning into the tension that was boiling behind the scenes, and allows for some real tension and character suspense. Not something that I would point at Voyager and compliment it for often. Janeway gets to show two opposing sides to her character; great compassion towards Species 8472 when they realise its real motive for seeking refuge on Voyager, and terrific fire in her belly when standing up to the Hirogen. It's this duality of character that makes her so fascinating to watch, and why I struggle with her at times too. Depending on the skill of the writing determines just how effective these traits are handled. Mulgrew excels here as she has a comfortably polished, confident script. Seven choosing to disobey her orders and beam the hunt onto one of the Hirogen ships where 8472 would undoubtedly be murdered is a shocking development. We're used to a predicable set of behaviour from the regulars on this show and Seven has come along to shake all that up and show how predictable they all are. The result is a brilliant confrontation between Janeway and Seven at the close of the episode where Seven still refuses to accept that she was in the wrong and she brazenly calls Janeway a hypocrite. I was cheering. It's exactly what I have been saying for three seasons at this point. 

Sparkling Dialogue: 'A single act of compassion can put you in touch with your own humanity.' 

'You will fail' 'And you have just crossed a line.' 

'I believe that you are punishing me because I do not think the way that you do, because I am not becoming more like you. You claim to respect my individuality but in fact you are frightened by it. 'As you were.' 

The Good: The pre-titles sequence gives them some space to have an adventure of their own before we catch up with Voyager and like Distant Origin before it, feels fresh and original for it. Hunting a member of Species 8472 into an asteroid and attempting to murder one for a trophy is a bold move, and it takes someone of Tony Todd's stature to convince that they will genuinely achieve it. Little touches like the war paint they finger onto their helmets before going into battle and disengaging the sensors so they can kill the prey with their own eyes goes a long way to convincing that these are seasoned hunters. Given we haven't seen them since the beginning of the season it is also a great surprise to see Species 8472 back in the show. Anybody who thought they were going to be the new big bad of Voyager must have been heartily disappointed but it is at least refreshing to see that by bringing together two reasonably successfully conceived but ill served alien species in one episode that highlights them both at their best does at least give them a single outing where their potential is realised. Tom Paris picking up what appears to be an abandoned helmet but turns out to be a decapitated head of a Hirogen is a great shock moment. There's nothing subtle about it at all and that is absolutely fine from time to time. There's also an especially dynamic shot of the Hirogen climbing the hull of Voyager. Sometimes this show really does put its money in the right places. 

The Bad: You've got a master tactician in Tuvok and an ex terrorist leader in Chakotay (used to improvising and going on the attack) and so you would think that an episode that is all about hunting would be custom made for their skillset and yet they are summarily ignored for most of the piece, much like the series at large. Instead of leaning on Chakotay, Tuvok drafts in Neelix. Perhaps not his soundest tactical move. Groan for the scene where Janeway tells us the story of the wounded Cardassian that she saved in the past to teach Seven the value of forgiveness and compassion. It's the only duff note in the script, and is brilliantly shattered by Seven's refusal to be moved. 

Result: It's easy to overlook the work of Allan Eastman given he only directed three episodes of Star Trek (Prey, Relativity and Honor Amongst Thieves) but its a trio of visually arresting, complex episodes that standout for their look, as well is their writing. I was aware throughout Prey of the unusually exciting visual flair on display from the well chosen special effects sequences, the genuinely dynamic action, the suspenseful scene setting and some very well shot dramatic scenes between the regulars. If Voyager looked like this week in/week out it would be something to really shout home about (actually it would probably be Battlestar Galactica) but what happens here is that we have something that turns out to be pretty unique; an episode of Voyager that hasn't aged a great deal. Brannon Braga is quoted as a saying that Eastman directed this 'like a movie' and for once I think he is right. Turning Voyager into the battleground between the Hirogen and Species 8472 is a fantastic idea and makes for tense and exciting scenes but what really impressed my was the soaring tension between Janeway and Seven, which I think is at its height here. Mulgrew might have felt like she had a lot to prove in the wake of Ryan's casting but I hope she realised that she did her best ever work against her. Add in some surprising twists, a great showing for both species and a star turn from Tony Todd and this show was rarely better than this. Soak it up. Clearly Brannon Braga has been inspired by the character shake up. 

***** out of ***** 

TNG - The Defector

Plot: This was such an exciting time to be a Star Trek fan because the series had hit the screens with uneven effect, brought to life by a production team that was unsure if a new crew would find its audience and with one foot still stuck in the past. Come season three TNG had gotten its act together, pulled in Michael Piller to ensure there was a uniformity of storytelling and a much higher bar of quality for everyone in the production to aspire to. The result was the show felt confident and willing to experiment in a way that played to its strengths and the season three of TNG is still one of the highest achieving single years of Star Trek you will find in the franchise. Watching The Defector I was hit with the same excitement I had at the time when you realised that not only was TNG working, but it was producing Star Trek of a quality that we hadn't yet seen.

This was a stage where the mere mention of the name Romulan could strike terror into the heart of any Star trek fan...until you see the terrible shoulder pads they are forced to wear. There is talk of war between the Romulans and the Federation and it is nice that TNG flirted with the idea, even if it took until DS9 to actually take the notion for a dance.

Character: I think it is fascinating that they should give Patrick Stewart the line of advice to Data that by embracing your own performance and not imitating others that he should discover his own worth as an actor given that Stewart could so easily have aped Shatner instead of finding his own way as the head of a Star Trek show. Picard is presented as a thoughtful man, a strategist, a thinker. Kirk would have headed into this situation guns blazing and made things ten times worse. How refreshing to watch a man who weighs up all the options, considers the facts and agonises over a move that could have devastating consequences for the Quadrant. There's a wonderful moment when Picard admits that he doesn't have any children and Jarok accuses him of sacrificing too much to his career. I don't know if they had this scene in mind during season two of Picard but the personal sacrifices that Jean-Luc has made are highlighted and agonised over 20 years later. The man is married to Starfleet. 

There's a superb scene where Jorak states that he likes Worf and that he is exactly the sort of person that will get them all killed if they aren't careful. We're pushing away from that Roddenberry ideal that everybody on this ship has got to be a perfect, and it's about time.   

Production: The teaser is extraordinary in that it feels like we have wandered into the wrong show with Stewart playing Shakespeare but actually when you strip away the florid dialogue and riveting performances it is just the same actors in the same stock Trek forest sets. There is a deliberate attempt to tie the frivolity of playing Shakespeare into the main theme of the episode, where Picard admits that unlike King Henry he cannot disguise himself and walk amongst the crew. Actually with Data as his eyes and ears, he kind of can. 

We're still in the period of the show before Berman decided that all music should be like the blandest of wallpaper and the Romulan theme is genuinely dynamic.

Performance: James Sloyan is the go to 90s Trek actor for a handful of character parts from this to Dr Mora to Jetrel and for a very good reason: he's incredibly good in every part they give him. Jarok is a difficult part to pull off because Sloyan has to convince that he could be telling the truth (so if they episode decides that he is a genuine defector that the previous 40 minutes doesn't ring false) or that he could be a Romulan plant (just in case the script twists into a cautionary tale for the Enterprise crew about Romulan duplicity). Sloyan walks that fine line brilliantly. He's spiky, but also has moments of likability and warmth. I was uncertain about him throughout, which is exactly where the episode wants you to be as it plays its games with you. The only time I think this sort of thing has been bested is with Waris Hulin in Duet, and that is because the entire episode is squarely focussed on the mystery of identity. This is a superlative performance and The Defector would have bombed had it been handed to a lesser, or less convincing, actor.

Sparkling Dialogue: 'It's always a game of chess with them, isn't it?' Picard says about the Romulans potentially setting up a base in the Neutral Zone and poking them into responding with force.

'It's a bitter thing to be exiled from your own home.'   

'One worlds butcher is another worlds hero.' 

'Shall we die together?' 

Best Moment: As with the majority of TNG, the best moments are acting moments rather than action and the confrontation between Picard and Jarok is extremely well written and played. Picard pointedly tells his collaborator that he has made his choices, and now he can never go home again. 

Worst Moment: You know those people that sit on the conn and wait for one of the regulars to take the station and just seem to wander off when that is happening? I would be really annoyed if that was my job. Just filling in until somebody more important comes a long.

A reason to watch this episode again: 'I will not risk my crew because you think you can dance at the edge of the Neutral Zone...' Superb, and an episode that its still spoken about today all these years later. The Defector poses the very simple question of can the Romulan defector be trusted and wrings every drop of intrigue out of it. It's one of those rare TNG episodes that uses the entire regular cast to their individual strengths; Picard is the thinker, Riker and Troi interrogate Jarok as good cop/bad cop, Data and Geordi have a scientific mystery to unravel and Worf is the muscle. The script is sharp and keeps the audience on the back foot throughout, playing games with Jarok's integrity and I was uncertain about his honesty until the very end. Patrick Stewart is finally being given opportunities to show the audience what he is made of and the show is embracing his past in the theatre and bringing that to the show. The climax, that shows that the Romulans are as labyrinthine in their deception as ever, and exposes Jarok as an honest man, prove extremely satisfying. The Defector turns from a mystery to a character tale, and Jarok is somebody I wish the show had kept around if the final suicidal sting hadn't been played. It feels like the Alpha Quadrant is sitting on the edge of a precipice with the major powers all being superbly characterised and it would take just one wrong move to plunge into war. 

***** out of *****

The Halloween Apocalypse written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Magnus Stone

What’s it About: Space doggies, universal destruction, a scouser, and a mattress in the TARDIS.

Oh Brilliant: The Doctor has been through a lot of late. She’s travelled to the end of time and seen humanity and the Cybermen tear seven shades of hell out of each other, visited the ruins of Gallifrey and seen it destroyed, discovered terrible secrets about her past and been imprisoned by the Judoon for years. You might think that the 13th Doctor of the Flux season might be pensive, thoughtful, perhaps even a little quiet and brooding. Not a bit of it! Hanging from a Grav-raft in the opening scene; tackling a shaggy dog that appears to out to destroy the Earth and has information that she is after and acting every inch the silly, sunny, quirky heroine that she has always been. I have heard people say that Trial of a Time Lord (the last time we had a story this long play out in Doctor Who) is a showcase for everything that makes Colin Baker a great Doctor and I would happily make the same argument for Jodie Whittaker and the Flux. She’s already marvelous, but everything is stepped up a notch here. She is in full command of this six-part series; commanding, curious, hilarious, smart, witty and loving life as the Doctor. I’ve heard many people say that this was where they really came on board with Whittaker as the Doctor, and I’ve heard others say that this was her peak awesomeness. Just watch as she is flailing about on the grav-bar trading barbs with Yaz, making jokes about her previous selves, dodging acid pools and kill-discs and calculating a miraculous escape into the TARDIS from a great height involving a heroic freefall and a mattress. It’s enough to drive the shippers wild. Hearing a female Doctor admit she was a ball boy for Trent really made me smile. She gets one of many confrontations with villains this season here but the joy of this one is that Karvanista is nothing of the kind, as we get to know as the narrative unfolds. The fact that she has forgotten that he used to be her best friend and is now treating him as her enemy is absolutely woven into the narrative. It’s left until late in the episode to reveal just why the Doctor is seeking out Karvanista and Chibnall in a massive two finger salute to the NMDs reveals that he is following up on the promise of the Timeless Child/Division/Tecteun revelations of the series finale last year. And boy is he going to lean into that by the end of the season. I got tingles because it was quite slyly dropped during a fun scene, and I just admire Chibnall for going ahead and exploring something that has been so divisive.

Yaz: Yes! Yes! Yes! Finally, and for one episode only as the Doctor suddenly starts amassing more companions than ever before (I’d happily call Kavanista, Bel & Vinder and Jericho companions before the end of the Flux) we get to see what could have been a very fun and almost flirty relationship had the Doctor and Yaz gone one on one from the start. Series 11 all but ignored the potential of Yaz as a companion, series 12 rectified that a lot (I thought she was particularly strong in Spyfall, Praxeus, Can You Hear Me? and Ascension of the Cybermen) and now series 13 sees her as the seasoned Doctor Who companion, teaching Dan the ropes, going solo in a handful of episodes and being quite magnificent and dropping any ambiguity that she is in love with the Doctor. And Mandip Gill is just terrific and really seizes every opportunity that the Flux season gives her. I really the scenes of the Doctor and Yaz on Earth alone investigating Karvanista and Dan’s house. There's’ a zippiness to the dialogue and their interaction. It really is a peak into what this could have been all along. Yaz is pissed that the Doctor is still holding things to her chest and not letting her in. This sounds like an argument that is going around in circles but it is paid off in the final episode of this mini season. Isn’t it great how Yaz can go off an rescue Dan all on her own? It’s not even commented on. That’s picked up too when Dan essentially becomes her companion come episode five.

Dan: Has anybody NOT enjoyed Dan Lewis this series? Jon Bishop has skipped into Doctor Who with relatively little fanfare and become many people’s favourite of the era by the sheer charm and cheeky good humour of Bishop’s performance. He’s not the world's most compelling of actors. I don’t think you are going to see a Catherine Tate or Bradley Walsh style level of heartbreak from Dan but what he makes up for that with is his charisma, his likability and his earthy realism. His love of Liverpool (which is gloriously mocked throughout), his instant rapport with the Doctor and Yaz, the brilliant love/hate relationship he has with Kavanista, his humble living arrangements and charity work, his fricking hilarious parents and his suggestion that there is no point in being alive unless you are making people happy are all designed to get you on board with this character. And it really, really works. Ignore those people that cannot understand or object to his accent and tell them go and watch Hartnell’s time where everybody lisped in RP. Dan is an awkward romancer and bashfully asks Diane out for a drink. He’s a humble bloke who is down on his luck but makes the best out of life. How can you not love somebody like that?

Karvanista: I think it’s probably fair to say that humour hasn’t always been Chris Chibnall’s forte in the past couple of years. Dare I mention the spectacular jocularity of the Wi-Fi family in Resolution? It feels like with a comedian on board this year that the scripts have had a pass through more rigorous comic eyes and suddenly much of the comedy is starting to land. With a joyous bounce. Karvanista is a gloriously absurd character; a Wookie-like creation from a species who pair bonds with a human and is sworn to protect them and played with absolute seriousness by Craid Els. And it is that gruff, grumpy gravity that makes him so deliriously funny. He’s a massive bloody dog man for goodness sakes, and yet I completely believe in this character. It’s the Nicholas Courtney effect. If you play it for laughs it really isn’t funny but if you play it seriously with a twinkle in the eye it is enjoyable to watch. Dan touching his nose might just be the funniest thing in the whole episode. Seven billion ships and seven billion Lupari is such a mad idea that I just rolled with it.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Or maybe I was Scottish when I set them up. Rrrrrrrelease!’
‘By the way, here’s your house.’

The Good: Originally, I was planning on putting the heavy reliance on CGI in the next section until my brain kicked into gear and remembered that this story was filmed during a worldwide pandemic and there wasn’t the opportunity to shoot on location as much as possible and so green screen work was almost a given in order to bring this epic story to life. But it also allows them the opportunity to make Doctor properly weird and unusual looking again, probably for the first time since the beginning of the Chibnall era. In this episode alone we get to enjoy a vast acid sea planet with terrifying skeletal crags and spitting acid seas (think of Marinus taken up to eleven), a picturesque snapshot of Bristol in 1820, an elaborate quarry prison asteroid, a vast vista of Lupari ships that interlock into a foreboding protection shield around the Earth, space station Rose with a glorious view of the universe at large and a front row seat of the Flux eating its way through entire planets, and finally the TARDIS spitting vortex fire at the event and it not even raising an eyebrow. This is only the beginning. Effects work in Doctor Who are stepping up a massive notch.

You're either going to completely get on board with the serialised structure of the Flux season or not and there isn’t a great deal of ambiguity in between and that makes The Halloween Apocalypse a series of vignettes that make very little sense at this point in the story but essential to the overall narrative come the end. Joseph Williamson is dropped early in this episode and pops up as a raving madman throughout the first four episodes before the purpose of his character and the tunnels that he keeps banging on about drops in episode five and becomes important to the story. It’s the Lost principle. You can either wait for answers, or you want everything sown up week on week. I used to be the latter and I totally came on board with Doctor Who doing that in the new series (instead of telling a story over a month or so it would zip through a plot in one week) but this feels like a real refreshment after 12 (bar series 6 I would say) season of that. Be patient and the sequences featuring Williamson, the Angels, the Sontarans, etc in this episode will all make sense.

Matthew Needham plays a terrifying older version of Swarm before he is regenerated and much like the Jacobi Master it might have been nice to have spent a little more time with him before he transformed. There’s a stillness and an intensity to his performance that is really chilling. However, Sam Spruell steps into the role in incredible make up and has the most fun of practically anyone in this story as the younger, camp as Christmas and confidently despicable Swarm that walks as through the season. Beyond a shadow of a doubt the one thing that Chibnall gets spot on this year is his phenomenal cast of villains and monsters and Swarm and Azure (more on her later) are right at the zenith of the pack. The regeneration sequence itself impresses as the crystals burst from his face as he screams in what could be agony or absolute pleasure. The make up for Swarm is elaborate and clearly a labour of love for the make up technician.

Just when you think that Dan’s house is going to be a replay of Martha’s house exploding in The Sound of Drums (finding the device and how they exit the building is shot in a very similar way), Chibnall subverts that expectation by shrinking the house and landing the flushing toilet gag. The Doctor and Yaz apologising is genuinely laugh out loud. As if Dan coming through the floor of the console room wasn’t enough to make his TARDIS introduction scene a lot of fun, then the Doctor hands him his tiny house. I was laughing my head off.

There’s no hint within the episode that the Angels will feature and so when Claire meets one on the street it comes as a complete surprise. This is the first time that the Angels have featured on screen not written by Steven Moffat and after the law of diminishing returns, this set piece featuring the very simple idea of Claire having to turn around to put her key in the lock is terrifyingly executed.

The Sontarans feature in a small sequence that serves to set up the next episode. I had massive fears that Chibnall would treat them like he did the Cybermen last year – with deadly earnestness. I was laughing my head off at the delightful rapport between the two soldiers (‘You look really disgusting’) and their shared laughter at the oncoming massacre. Oh ye of little faith, Joe – this turns out to be the best Sontaran season ever.

After a ton of random set pieces throughout the episode, Chibnall climaxes The Halloween Apocalypse with a humdinger as the Flux sets its sights upon the Earth and the Doctor ingeniously organises the Lupari ships into a protective shield around the planet. We’ll skip over the notion of cutting off our access to the sun for the sakes of such an ambitious effects sequence that really looks cinematic. The Doctor punching the console and unleashing the vortex on the Flux is way cool. Sometimes Doctor Who is so dynamic.

Segun Akinola. You’ve just got it. The music at the climax gave me goosebumps. It’s epic and foreboding and has a sweeping majesty. I was transfixed.

The Bad: What the hell is happening to the TARDIS? She appears to be bleeding throughout the Flux season and the space inside is being reorganized and distorted and yet there is zero explanation about why throughout the six-hour run time. This is Chibnall playing a long game with his audience.

Why is Azure hanging out in the Artic Circle? I’m not sure that is ever explained. The joy of that scene is seeing Rochenda Sandall out of make up before she is poured into it for the remaining five episodes and giving a more naturalistic performance. I suppose after the last couple of seasons we have come to expect exotic locales in Doctor Who and this convincingly depicted, even if they clearly didn’t trudge out into the wintry wilds to film this.

I’m not going to make any serious excuses for Vinder talking to himself for the length of a bible because this is exactly the sort of Chris Chibnall exposition (it’s a very special kind that he has mastered) people agonise over but I will say that it is absolutely a good thing that there is a witness to the oncoming destruction that the Flux is wrecking on the universe.

Result: ‘Nice to meet you, Dan! Run for your life!’ What’s the most surprising thing that Chris Chibnall could have done with Doctor Who in series 13? Make it in the first place! Created during a global pandemic, we had the right to fear that Doctor Who might not make it to our screens in 2021 and in defiance of expectation Chibnall instead chooses to weaponise his limitations and create what a lot of people consider to be his finest year of Doctor Who to date. Can’t have unlimited number of actors? Chibnall writes in a guest cast that feature throughout and as a result we get to luxuriate with those characters and really get to know them. Can’t film abroad? Chibnall chooses his location filming wisely and instead takes us on a whirlwind tour of the universe to a diverse, weird and visually stunning number of CGI vistas. Can’t have an entire season of Doctor Who because of the health implications? Chibnall leans into his previous successes of heavily serialised television and creates the longest running, structurally ambitious and fluid piece of longform storytelling we have seen in Doctor Who for some considerable time. All of these things impress but what stood out for more than anything else was the insane amount of fun that Chibnall decides to have this season. Chibnall Who is a lot of things but he has never really leant into the out and out entertainment jugular before quite like this. Previously, his series seven episodes (Dinosaurs on a Spaceship and The Power of Three ) were deliriously fun to watch and I was expecting a lot more of that when he took over as showrunner. Instead, what we got was a lot more stripped back and worthy (do not read that as a negative). I never thought it would take until his third year to truly let his hair down and just embrace there fun but I am so pleased that we got here at last. A wealth of memorable and enjoyable guest characters, terrific villains and monsters, more exciting set pieces than you can shake a stick at, jokes that made me laugh out loud and a sense of dragging the audience along for a good time. Entertaining your audience is an underrated virtue and when I finished The Halloween Apocalypse, despite the universe munching Flux event that was causing mass genocide, I was tingling with pleasure from the ride I had been on. There was plenty here that was set up with no pay off, but the scenes themselves were great set pieces (the Angel attack, Diane being pulled into the house). Dan is introduced with great economy and clarity and immediately fits the series new comic tone and there is real enjoyment to be had with the Doctor/Yaz pairing that has previously been hidden to this extent. You’ll find the usual Chibbers exposition here (he has much more in common with Pip and Jane Baker than his spotty, precious youth would care to admit) and that is just an aberration in his work that you can either tolerate or not. Come episode five he takes it to meteoric levels so prepare yourself. I’m a massive fan of Star Trek and that is essentially people standing around explaining stuff all the time so I think I might be immune. What astonished me was at the climax where I felt that too many threads had been introduced and Chibnall had no hope in keeping a handle on all these characters and situations and in a nod to Broadchurch he climaxes the piece catching up with everybody and I realised with some punch the air excitement that he knew exactly where these characters were and where they were going. Stop resisting the fun, grab hold of the Grav-Bar, bounce of the mattress, leap from the miniturised house, duel with the doggie, and set vortex energy on the oncoming apocalypse. I haven’t even mentioned Swarm and Azure, two of the most exquisitely executed villains the show has ever given us. This is a gloriously entertaining start and I was absolutely on board for the ride. Segun Akinola’s music peaks at the climax: 9/10

Terror of the Vervoids Commentary!

Join Joe & David as they set sail on the Hyperion III for mayhem & intrigue! Why are Pip’n’Jane underrated? How charming is Colin Baker? And David regales with a tale of the delightful Bonnie Langford.

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Join Joe & David as they don’t snap their necks, at least not until... Joe is frightened because David loves a good body count, incoming comedy show ‘The Two Bonnie’s’, discussion of Hyperion class design, and Dolly Parton’s new song ‘Doland.’

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Join Joe & David as they are driven directly into the eye of the black hole of Tartarus! The question ‘would you say this is the most vaginal monster?’ is asked in all sincerity, intrusive Trial segments are discussed, Doctor in Distress is celebrated and we salute cosplayers everywhere.

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Join Joe & David as they are charged with genocide! The truth is out: Janet is guilty and we reveal all about how she murdered the Conmodore and was put on trial. Also, what the hell does Nicola Bryant sing in Doctor in Distress?

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TNG – The Naked Now

 

Plot – Sex virus wipes out crew and infects the Enterprise causing much silliness. Wesley takes over the ship and saves the day. Just read that rather than watching the episode.

Character – Wesley Crusher gets his first real examination in this episode and it is absolutely worthy of discussion. He begins the series as a wide eyed, straight A student with ridiculously over emphasised abilities and a chance to pilot a Starship long before his prime. He’s essentially told time and again that he is extraordinary, that his aptitude is far in excess of his peers and that he can see things in different ways to other people his age. No wonder he ends the series a moody dropout who essentially throws his hand in with terrorists and then chips the universe off to explore time with a God. Nobody can live up to that weight of expectation. He’s just a child, and he faces the terrible ignominy that despite his impressive technical ability, he is still a human being. It doesn’t help that he is characterised in the most saccharine way possible throughout the first year. Truly, it takes until The Child and then perhaps into the third season for the character to become tolerable. Characters without flaws are irritating, child characters even moreso. Wil Wheaton is not to blame; he acquits himself rather well in the face of some overly simplistic characterisation and dreadfully stilted dialogue. It’s like Gene Roddenberry didn’t want to give the kid a chance.

This is Dr Bev’s first chance to really show her medical competence and prove her place on the Enterprise. She manages to let a sex virus works its way through the entire crew, her son holds the entire crew to ransom and essentially endangers the whole ship. Top job, Beverley. No wonder they brought in Pulaski.

Performance – Very often when actors are asked to behave out of character it is an excuse to either really enjoy playing the opposite end of where they character usually is or the result is a very extreme (and humiliating) performance. Who could forget Siddig El Fadil playing the villain in DS9’s The Passenger? Or Jolene Blalock turning into a sexual predator in Bounty? I don’t think anybody was very comfortable playing the intoxicated version of their usual character in The Naked Now, mostly because they haven’t had the time to figure out who their characters are yet. Levar Burton decides to go for broke and play LaForge as a snappy, sweaty rude boy who can suddenly see the beauty of the universe. Denise Crosby is the one actor that just goes for it and doesn’t care if she has egg on her face. The sequence where she walks along the corridor gyrating her hips and grabs an officer and snogs his face is so insanely over the top it is impossible not to laugh. Marina Sirtis seems a little embarrassed (strange given some of the things she would do later in the shows run) and so takes to hang onto Jonathan Frakes’ neck and keeping her face out of shot. One of the worst acted scenes in TNG’s run comes when Gates McFadden (‘Oh would I like to show you…but we don’t have time for that kind of thing!’) and Patrick Stewart (‘Not now Doctor…please!’) trying and focus on the investigation at hand and find themselves desperate to try and rip each other’s clothes off. ‘I’m a woman…I haven’t had the comfort of a husband. A man!’

Terrible Dialogue – ‘Captain, what we’ve just heard is impossible’ says Data about the emergency hatch being blown. Impossible, really Data? Perhaps unfortunate would be a more appropriate word.
‘Help me not to give in to the wild things coming into my mind’ ‘Geordi, my job is security!’ might be one of the strangest exchanges in any Star Trek episode.
'It was an adult who did it!’

Worst moment – Why does drunk automatically equate to sex mad? Tasha’s scene with Data has lasting consequences for the series and the character but they feature some highly questionable and troubling dialogue that shows that you shouldn’t be playing around with issues like abandonment and rape if you don’t have the ability to tell those stories in a sympathetic way. Tasha seems to suggest that being abandoned at five and threatened with rape throughout her teenage years means that the only man she can ever trust now is a machine. ‘What I want now is gentleness…and joy…and love’ is such an awkward line. The ‘how fully functional?’ line has been quoted ad nauseum but coming after Yar’s confessions about her past this all feels very mucky and yucky.

I wish they hadn’t done that – Rule one Wesley: when a man comes into your quarters drunk and sweaty you show him the door. You don’t invite him in and show him your science project.

There are illusions to The Naked Time but that was an episode of TOS that was at least four episodes into the run so we have had the chance to get a handle on the cast and they are playing the episode to the hilt. The Naked Now in comparison is awkward and embarrassed. Perhaps the comparison should never have been made.

Why in these early episodes does Patrick Stewart sound like he is recovering from a stroke when he is forced to make an intercom message?

There’s a very funny moment when Picard practically stares out to camera and explains to all the kids at home that alcohol can be very dangerous and impair your judgement. In reality he is talking to Wesley, but Stewart has to force himself not to look directly at the audience.

A reason to watch this episode again – I have a question. Why would you feature an episode with all of your major characters behaving out of character before we have even figured out who those characters are? For all we know Tasha Yar might be a space vamp who enjoys fucking androids? Or Geordi might be the ultimate poet in the universe. Or Dr Bev and Picard have a history and can barely keep their hands off each other. Actually, that last one is true. It does indicate that Gene Roddenberry doesn’t really have much of a clue about kick starting a television show in the 1980s and reveals his weird obsession with sex that feels especially out of touch with what will eventually become such a dry show in that regard. If you’re a horny teenager who gets off on the idea of a sex virus plaguing the crew then this might just the ticket but if you are looking for sophisticated science fiction that tackles tough subjects then this may not be the ideal first adventure out of dock for you. For all we know coming out of this episode the entire show might be pitched at the level of a sub grade sex romp featuring pre-pubescent teens taking over the ship. I had huge fun writing this review which may go some way to explaining just how truly abysmal this episode is. Everything is off kilter; the premise, the pacing, the characterisation, the dialogue. What is shocking is that it is nowhere near the nadir of season one. It’s entertaining but mostly because of how truly terrible it is.

½ out of *****