Monday, November 14, 2016

Star Trek: Beyond

Well, it was better than the previous "new" Star Trek films. Slightly. It started off great. I loved the opening scene showing a diplomatic Kirk in front of an assembly of humanoid-mini-lions(??). The Starbase Yorktown looked amazing. A Starbase that was basically an entire world, with cities and skyscrapers? So cool. So far it was seeming more like a Star Trek film and less like every other action movie made in the past ten years. Then it proceeded to turn into every other action movie made in the past ten years. Explosions, fight scenes, jumpy cameras.

The plot was OK, though it mostly consisted of them wondering around "Endor" trying to survive. I do enjoy when the Enterprise crashes, it always looks awesome. Plus these villains are just insane. That ability to swarm and burrow... damn that was awesome. However I did not find the main villain Krall to be that interesting. Still, the way Kirk and crew finally defeat the swarm is pretty great, and funny. The character Jaylah was very good... sort of a Rey rip-off in a way though.

The cast in these films are great. Quinto is just so damn perfect as Spock. Pegg is fun, Pine, Urban and the rest never seem to fail. The movie had nice little tributes to Yelchin and Nimoy. George Tekai was disappointed that they made Sulu gay, a character in which he says had been straight this entire time only to suddenly not be. Which I get. But, remember, this is supposed to be an alternate reality. So this gives them the ability to basically do anything without messing up the shows continuity. Which is VERY convenient.

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Star Trek: Peter Pan Comic Records

The Star Trek Peter Pan comics/records ran from 1975 to 1979. Half of the stories were writing by Alan Dean Foster which is cool, and a handful of the artwork was done by Neal Adams which is awesome. That being said, I was surprised at how much I hated the stories and found the artwork just OK. Not all of the stories had comics for them, so those ones I actually found the record audio on YouTube. Let me tell you, they were boring as shit. Some of the early one's seemed to literally be recorded in old-timey radio style. Like a bunch of guys standing around one microphone and some other guy in the corner smacking coconuts together. In most of the comics Sulu was a black guy and Uhura was a blond white woman... I mean, it's 1975.. by now I assume everyone has heard of Star Trek. Explain to me, why and how they messed this up! They do however manage to reference small details from both TOS and TAS??

The comics from 1979 show the crew in the gray uniforms from The Movie. All characters look as they should.

1. "Passage to Moauv" (1975 comic) - Not a very original plot. It seems to happen frequently in most of the Star Trek comics. The Enterprise ends up getting some animal on board that turns out to be a telepath and it makes the crew go insane.

2. "In Vino Veritas" (1975 audio) - Insufferably boring. I actually fell asleep and then had to re-listen to it. It's the Enterprise crew sitting around a table with dignitaries talking.... That really seems to be all that happens.

3. "The Crier in Emptiness" (1975 comic) - I'm not sure if I was supposed to laugh at this one, but I did. The Enterprise is assaulted by a being of pure sound. The only solution is to have Lt. Connors play a giant keyboard like he was Jeff Lynne from ELO.


4. "The Time Stealer" (1975, comic) - Corny, but I liked it. A Wizard and Barbarian end up  battling the Enterprise. After making peace with them, Kirk soon discovers that magic may indeed be real. This was written by Cary Bates and Neal Adams. Typically I hate 99% of the writing involved with Neal Adams but not this one. Don't get me wrong, I love Neal Adams art. In fact, his Lantern/Arrow comics are one of my all-time favorites. Though even those, the ultra-hippy b-s writing made we want to die.

5. "To Starve a Fleaver" (1975, audio) - A dignitary from a newly discovered colony accidentally infects the crew with lice. Something like that.

6. "A Mirror for Futility" (1975, comic) - The Enterprise happens upon two gigantic alien starship's locked in an eternal battle. The race is long dead but these two ships are on computer power and will fight on forever. Not a bad story, it's been done before however.

7. "The Logistics of Stampede" (1975, audio) - A planet needs help killing off a stampede of cattle because they keep killing their crops. Something like that.

8. "The Man Who Trained Meteors" (1979, audio) - This was by far the best audio story. The Enterprise is about to meet the ruler of Perinda IV when suddenly the city is destroyed by multiple meteor strikes. The Enterprise is also threatened by a voice, saying that they too will be destroyed. Kirk finds out that this is the former ruler of Perinda IV. He has crazy telekinetic powers. He turns the crew into zombies and begins his coupe of the planet. Luckily Spock is unaffected. He stops Zombie-Scotty from blowing up the ship and subdues the crazed ex-ruler.

9. "The Robot Masters" (1979, comic) -  Ehhh. The Romulans steal a shipment of robots meant for Scotty in order to start a robot army. First of all, they never use robots on the Enterprise. At least not ones that look like B-9. Secondly, the Romulans are green and resemble Genghis Khan. Again.. it's 1979, nobody remembers what the Romulans liked like on TOS?

10. "Dinosaur Planet" (1979, comic) - Kirk and crew encounter intelligent dinosaurs. Not a bad idea I guess.

11. "The Human Factor" (1979, audio) - Uhura and others are taken by a race called the Garrusians. This planet worships computers so they need to steal people in order to keep them programmed. Kirk works out a compromise to have The Federation assist the culture.



On a scale of 1-5 Saurian Brandy's. I give the Star Trek Peter Pan comics a 1.5

Next Up: Star Trek: UK Comic Strip

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Gold Key Comics - TOS #42- 61

The final run of Gold Key comics were fantastic. They rehash and/or expand on classic Star Trek characters and episodes. Lots of fun, beautiful artwork by Al McWilliams and great writing by George Kashdan. This batch also has great ads in them, such as Star Wars movie paraphernalia ones and disco album advertisements. Picking five top ones was tough, there are many good comics here. One with a ghost and cyborg in it, a few undercover operation episodes (which I love) and an Andorian murder mystery.

I also read the script for the never made issue #62 Trial By Fire. Kirk and Bones are trapped on a planet about to be obliterated by a fireball. Has an appearance by the USS Exeter post Omega Glory. Check it out, it's at least interesting to see what a comic book script looks like. Way crappier than I expected. http://www.startrekcomics.info/images/goldkey/st62script.pdf

I decided to read the Whitman Dynabrite Comic (reprint of The Evictors/The Choice) and the Dan Curtis Mini-comic Giveaway (reprint of Enterprise Mutiny/Dark Traveler).



The best of this bunch:

 #43 1977 "World beneath the waves"
The crew visit a planet where the inhabitants live underwater. This environment is not used much in Star Trek, so it was interesting to see. These people had to adapt to the water after their land was devastated by radiation. Kirk discovers that there are indeed land people, but a cover up seems to be afoot. Barbara McCoy is in this comic and she is a great character. I love how she seems to really hate her father.


#49 1977 "A warp in space"
Bringing back our old friends Zefram Cochrane and the Companion from the episode Metamorphosis. Kirk needs assistance from the famed scientist in order to figure out the disappearance of several experimental starships. They are all attempting to push the limits of warp. The Companion, however, seems hell bent on sabotaging things.


#50 Jan 1978 "The planet of no life"
Kirk and a rich snobby ensign are trapped on a planets surface. Unfortunately for Kirk, his recent nemesis The Evictors are back to torture him. The young ensign quickly turns on Kirk in order to save his own head.



#56 Oct 1978 "No time like the past"
A crazy ex-dictator escapes into the Guardian of Forever and changes history. Kirk, Spock and Bones go back in time in order to set things right. They must make sure the encounter between Hannibal and the Romans goes the way history planned.


 #61 Mar 1979 "Operation con game"
Kirk loses out to the Klingon's on an important bid for a planets dilithium. They discover that this dilithium seems to be fake, and a surprising old foe is behind the ruse. Lets just say, things get a little muddy...





These Gold Key comics are a diamond in the rough. People talk shit about them, but I feel they never really read them. They get increasingly better and better as the run goes on. I enjoyed the art and writing, as well as the heavy use of Scotty.

On a scale of 1-5 Saurian Brandy's. I give Star Trek Gold Key series a 4

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Gold Key Comics - TOS #21- 41

The Gold Key series continues to impress. They eventually iron out the inconsistencies that everyone complains about. In fact only the first handful in the series are really a mess. Although, at one one point in issue #41 Kirk says "Dr. Spock". Nonetheless, this next group had some real gems (also a few blah ones).


 Issue's #33 to #41 are particularly great, including one with McCoy's daughter (and Kirk keeps hitting on her??). The writing really turns from "text book" comic story lines into movie quality plots and dialogue. The interior art work remains good, however the covers are starting to look really corny.
 


The best of this bunch:
 

 

#33 1975 "The Choice"
The Enterprise is sent to a section of space in which the Big Bang is thought to have originated. There they find a pod floating, and inside is .... Kirk! He tells the other Kirk to make the right choice (though no one understands what he means). It ends in a battle between two Enterprise's.


#36 1976 "A Bomb In Time"

A rogue scientists takes a powerful bomb into Earth's past. They do not know exactly what time period but they norrow it down to two years/places. Kirk goes to 1955 Hollywood and Scotty to 1855 Old West. Great writing in this one, it would have made a solid episode or even a fun old Star Trek movie. Certainly would be better than Star Trek: The Motion Picture.


#38 1976 "One of Our Captain's is Missing"
Kirk is suddenly relieved of duty and replaced by a Captain Zarlo (who seems inept, and the crew can't stand him). Kirk has actually been sent on an undercover mission to thwart a Klingon take over on a nearby planet. Another one that one make a decent film. Again the writing is great, but for some reason I can never tell who the writer is on these comics.


#39 1976 "Prophet of Peace
Kirk and crew recover a cryogenic sleep pod from deep space. It contains an iconic scientist from Earth's past. This guy was a brilliant scientist but also a prophet of peace. No one wonder he literally looks like a mix of Ghandi and Einstein. Upon taking him back to Earth, his renewed message of peace has some dire consequences for the planet. Star Trek always does this. They show men of peace and peaceful planets but everytime there is some evil underlying situation. It's like their message is that total peace is a myth.



#41 1976 "The Evictors"
The Enterprise takes part in a planets 10,000 year celebration. The planet has since achieved total peace (so as I said previously, we all know what is coming next). As part of the celebration they have a visual of their entire history projected into the atmosphere. It speaks of their founder and "God" named Zotar. Suddenly the image is interrupted by a giant space craft and to everyone's amazement Zotar appears! He has not come to party, he has come to take his planet back...

Monday, August 08, 2016

Gold Key Comics - TOS #1-20

#1 1967 "The Planet of No Return"
Kirk and crew must save Rand from a planet where plants are alpha. Man-eating trees  are not something that Star Trek has really ever done, so I very much enjoyed the originality. This will be the third time I was traumatized by a tree, the other two being; after watching the Wizard of Oz and that time that a giant Spruce was my camp counselor...

#12 1971 "The Flight of the Buccaneer"

Great cover art and a fun story line. Kirk, Bones, Spock and Scotty go undercover  to infiltrate space pirates. Although, why future pirates still look and talk like it's the 17th century I have no idea. Also, they fly a giant wooden Pirate ship??? My favorite part is when Kirk uses his undercover Pirate name .... Kirk. Anyway, loved it.

#13 1972 "The Dark Traveler"

The greatness to this lies in the Dark Traveler. I like when a new character actually stands out. The Dark Traveler is an intergalactic hitchhiker, in a dark robe, looks like Conrad Bain, is very laid back and has Q-like powers.



#15 1972 "Museum at the End of Time"

The Enterprise ends up trapped in The Curator's museum. The Curator is rather similar to The Collector in Guardians of the Galaxy. In this story, the Enterprise crew must work together with a Klingon crew in order to escape. Previously in these comics, the Klingon's had looked like Telly Savalas (bald, white dudes). Now finally they have a real looking Klingon (be it in the TOS style).

#16 1972 "Day of Inquisitors"

The Galileo crashes on a planet that is still in the Dark Ages. They are currently in the midst of a religious inquisition. I always enjoy when Star Trek does Dark Age plots. As an added bonus, Spock gets whipped in this one, ...it's very erotic...

Gold Key 1967-1979 (61 Issues) - TOS

Gold Key produced the first Star Trek Comics in 1967 (after issue 20 they mostly switch over to Whitman Comics). The first few covers contain still-photos mixed with some artistic rendering. Eventually they ditch the photos. Either way, both versions are beautifully done. The cover art later on (mostly by George Wilson) is amazing, as is the interior art (mostly by Alberto Giolitti). The depictions of the crew members are about as spot on as it gets.

The first handful of these comics were made mostly by Italians who had never even seen the show. Because of this, there are many inconsistencies and these comics are generally considered non-canon. Some problems are; wrong uniform colors, Spock is too human, Scotty looks Aryan, they say stuff like - "up the periscope", "fire ray guns" and "teleportation chamber". Kirk talks like Robin from the old Batman show, using phrases like "Galloping Galaxies!" The Enterprise brings heavy machinery down to planets, like dump truck and excavators?? In one comic, a crewman unleashes evil ghosts by accidentally opening the wrong door while searching for toilet paper?!?!

Despite all of this... these comics are great. The art is wonderful and writing (Len Wein, Arnold Drake etc) is creative and engaging. My plan is to read these comics in groups of 20 and then select my top 5.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Star Trek: The Manga

So what to say about Star Trek The Manga. Well, if you hate Manga then you will probably still hate these. If you like Manga, then you will probably still hate these. If you like Manga and also like Star Trek, then you may enjoy these.


I actually found a lot to like in these books. For one, many of the plots are very original and interesting. I found the writing to be excellent and some of the artwork extraordinary. The "set" consists of 4 books, 3 TOS and 1 TNG. Each book has 4-5 stories, each one with a different writer and artist. So they are almost like mini Manga compilations.

Book One: Shinsei Shinsei (2006)

    Side Effects - Right away I was hooked on this story (Chris Dows). The Enterprise stumbles upon a disabled ship in which the inhabitants are either dead or in suspended animation. They find that some have reanimated, and one female seems to be incredibly powerful. These people had been subjects in some sort of genetic engineering experiment and this one particular subject has become far more advanced the the others. The battle with her culminates in a shocking revelation about her future. I may have actually gasped at this. Great Manga artwork in this one (Makoto Nakatsuka)

    Anything But Alone - Another good story (Joshua Ortega). Typical setup of: the away team goes to a planet and Kirk flirts with a woman. The woman is not what she seems, in fact the entire planet is not what it seems. How this world was created, is quite amazing.

    Til Death - Not a fan of the art. It reminds me of everything from MTV's Liquid Television. I'm not really one to complain, Koko the Gorilla can draw better than me. But anyway, the plot starts off with a wedding and ends up with a male vs female fight to death.

    Oban - A cute little worm thing that ends up being anything but a cute little worm thing. I always enjoy these "Trouble with Tribbles" type of story lines.

    Orphans - Excellent. They use one thing that I have never really seen in Star Trek, Mechs. Picture Robotech. The Enterprise is suddenly attacked by Mechs being controlled by children. The Enterprise takes one prisoner and Kirk soon takes him under his wing.


Book Two: Kakan ni Shinkou (2007)

   Cura Ti Ipsum - Lot of death in this one. First an explosion on the Enterprise kills a bunch of crew members, then after beaming to a planet and getting attacked, a phaser issue causes an explosion that kills a bunch of inhabitants. This thrusts Kirk into the center of a war between two factions ... and of course he meets a woman. Story by Wil Wheaton!

    The Trial - I'm still not sure I understand this one. Kirk gets abducted and put on trial by a race of aliens... for seemingly no reason. I'm sure there is some deep meaning to this story, but I'm a simple moron and don't get it.

    Communication Breakdown - This takes place just after the Enterprise encounter with Nomad. Uhura is just getting her memory back. The crew beam down to a planet and it looks like a relatively nice civilization. Uhura however senses that something is wrong ... but nobody will believe her. Loved this story (Christine Boylan).

    Scaean Gate - A Bones love story ... it's rarely done. Bones and a stuck up Queen form an unlikely bond. But, is it too good to be true? Is it?? Well! IS IT??? Anyway, the art was really nice in this one (Don Hudson). It was not Manga style, but more of something you would see in older comics. The depictions of Spock, Kirk and Bones are pretty spot on.

    Forging Alliances - Kirk, Bones and Spock go to Vulcan and meet up with Sarek. They are about to have a weird Vulcan ceremony. For an advanced race, they sure have some bizarre arcane ceremonies. Well, suddenly everyone starts acting weird and Spock turns into a loudmouth jerk. Things get complicated when a feral Vulcan boy shows up.
 
Book Three: Uchu (2008)

    Art of War - Another story by Wil Wheaton! It's a great one too. It jumps between a Strafleet trial for Kirk and a Klingon trial for Commander Kring. Both charged with questionable actions in the same incident, but each trial takes a very different course.

    Bandi - Another great "Tribbles" type of episode. Funny thing is that this story was written by David Gerrold, the writer of "Trouble with Tribbles". This one involves a cute little bear that has incredible powers. I really enjoyed this one; very fun and very funny. Again, another great job by artist Don Hudson.

    The Humanitarian -Spock has temporary command of the ship and everything seems to go wrong. He finds himself dealing with numerous tragedy's and the surprising effect that it has on his own emotions. Well done.

    Inalienable Rights - Not very groundbreaking, but certainly right in line with TOS episodes. The crew encounter a planet in which the government keep the population oppressed. This includes all of the intellectuals. Kirk "befriends" a female scientist and he tries to convince the government that it would be more productive to work as one.... that's sort of the plot... I think.

Book 4: TNG Boukenshin
    Changeling - Another story by David Gerrold. The art is by EJ Su who does a few stories in this series and I do like his style. Although overall, I have decided that it is impossible for anyone to draw Picard without him looking like the Perdue chicken guy. This story was fun...but weird as hell. In order to teach Wesley Crusher a lesson, the crew plays a joke on him. They trick him into thinking that he is turning into a woman, a black guy, and a Klingon.

    Sensation - A contagion is running rampant on the ship and only Dr. Crusher and Troi can save the day. Could this be linked to the archeological dig on the planet below? Of course it fucking is.

    The Picardian Knot - Another Don Hudson masterpiece. The story starts off great. Picard has a weird encounter with Sarek and soon loses his emotions. Then they encounter the Romulans and Picard is way off his game. Matters are complicated when a mysterious Romulan artifact is found on board. What the artifact really is may ... ugh ... shock you.

    Loyalty - This one takes place soon after Picard is saved from the Borg. He is still recovering from the whole Locutus thing. Meanwhile Riker must defend Picards honor at a Starfleet tribunal. This could be a career ender for Riker.

Overall, I liked this series of Manga's. The stories far exceeded my expectations. I must admit however that TNG does not make for a good Manga. It's much too cerebral and dialogue driven. TOS is perfect because it's...well, lets face it, sort of dumb.

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Star Trek: Nemesis

Acting was great, plot was average, execution ... not great. Tom Hardy was fantastic as the villain Shinzon, as was Ron Perlman and all of the original cast. All did an excellent job. The plot revolves around Shinzon (who is a young clone of Picard or something) who has now taken over the Romulan Empire (I think). Picard and crew meet Shinzon and he seems a little bit insane. They discover that Shinzon is dying and needs Picards blood (I assumed). Eventually Shinzon abducts Picard and B-4 (Data's inferior brother, who they had found on a nearby planet ... sort of like Clint Howard). Picard escapes with the help of B-4 (who is actually Data, pretending to be B-4). Back on the Enterprise they confront Shinzon in a ship to ship battle, eventually ramming his ship with the Enterprise. Picard makes his way to Shinzon and stabs him, meanwhile Data dies while destroying the enemy ship.

Back on Enterprise, everyone is sad because Data is dead. Picard eventually realizes that Data transferred his program into B-4. Eventually they will be one in the same. Most people did not enjoy this movie. It certainly was not terrible, just incredibly average. When it becomes obvious that Shinzon and Picard are connected in some way, I was waiting for Shinzon to say that he was Picard's son. Like at some point during TNG Picard knocked-up some random alien woman. That would be more believable.

Tuesday, April 05, 2016

Voyager/Star Trek Reflection

I will begin this by saying that I did not hate Voyager. I didn't love it, but I was far from hating it. All that I have ever heard were bad things about Voyager. When it was on TV, I never bothered to watch a single episode. To be honest, I think when I was young I was put off by a Star trek show with a female Captain. But, Janeway was a decent character. She was never in your face or over the top, and for the most part her personal life stayed completely out of the series. Janeway was always just a Starship Captain. As for 7 of 9, I never warmed up to her. She was the opposite of Janeway, the charcter was always in your face and her personal life was always the center of things. I enjoyed Kes and at times I may have even like Chakotay. As for Torres, Paris and Harry ... all shit. Neelix was mostly unlikeable but it was hard to not like him ... if that makes sense. By far The Doctor was the greatest character in Voyager, and Robert Picardo may be the best actor on the show. In general, the show was far more watchable than I expected. I didn't even feel like hanging myself until well into season 6!


I started this journey on 7/16/2011 with the first episode of Enterprise. My goal was to watch every episode/movie in timeline order. Which I did, although it took me 5 years ... just like Captain Kirk's mission, hmmm ironic. Nonetheless, I regret almost none of this! I wish I could say that it brought be closer to Star Trek, but mostly it just made me become annoyed by it. Oh well. So what was the point of all of this? Literally, no point.


Now I have one more movie to watch, Nemesis. Also, the new Star Trek movie in a few months ... and I guess this new show coming in 2017. So even though the meat and potatos of the journey has come to an end, there is still more to come ...

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 172 - Endgame Pt. 2

Admiral Janeway goes to confront the Borg Queen. She is captured and it seems like she will die, but she unleashes a deadly pathogen that kills the Queen and most of the Borg's. Voyager then goes through the hub, but are followed by a remaining Borg ship. Admiral Janeway goes to the Borg ship and plants a bomb. Voyager makes it through the hub, the Borg ship explodes... destroying the transwarp hub. Now home, Janeway ends the series by saying "Set course... for home." Some of the reveals are that Janeway is an Admiral, Tuvok is in an insane asylum, Kim is a Captain and I forget the rest... This was an OK final episode. Acting was good, plot was fair but not fantastic, visuals were excellent. I always like seeing Starships flying in a planets atmosphere.

172 down 0 to go!

Star Trek VGR Episode 171 - Endgame Pt. 1

Well, it's the end of Voyager. In 2024 Admiral Janeway decides to go back in time to talk to Captain Janeway. It takes awhile to convince herself that she is...herself. Finally she tells Capt. Janeway to go back into the area of Borg space that they escaped from a few seasons back. It seems like a suicide mission, but she says it's important. So they sneak into Borg space and discover a transwarp hub. Capt. Janeway tries to destroy it, but the Borg Queen stops the attack. Admiral Janeway explains that they need this transwarp hub because it will allow them to get home 16 years earlier. This is important because the way things really played out it took them 23 years to get home and many of them died on the way. Captain Janeway still sees that it is more important to stop the Borg's spread, then to make it home sooner. Admiral Janeway then works on a plan to both use the hub AND destroy it...

171 down 1 to go

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 170 - Renaissance Man

Janeway and The Doctor are taken by an alien race. The want The Doctor to steal the warp core in exchange for Janeway's freedom. She tells him to not do it, but The Doctor refuses her order. He doesn't want to see her die. So The Doctor turns himself into a hologram of Janeway and infiltrates Voyager. Tuvok eventually becomes suspicious but it's too late, The Doctor has stolen the core. He did however, leave Paris and Tuvok a clue. They follow the clue right to Janeway and defeat the aliens, saving Janeway and keeping the warp core. The episode was okay, but I was expecting something better for most likely the final "Doctor themed" episode.

170 down 2 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 169 - Homestead

"Voyager encounters a Talaxian settlement leaving Neelix with the difficult decision of whether to leave the crew."

While celebrating "First Contact Day", Voyager suddenly discovers a strange asteroid. Paris and Neelix go to examine it and find miners on it, but also Talaxians. Neelix is shocked because he assumed he was the only one left. He meets a widowed woman with a young son and they fall for each other (Neelix and the woman that is). She explains that the survivors have been going from planet to planet trying to find a home. They really like this asteroid but the miners want them gone. Neelix assists in deploying a shield around the asteroid in order to keep the miners out. He then decides to stay with his people. Janeway makes him an Ambassador, allowing him to live with the Talaxians but still be in contact with Voyager. I must admit, I was a little sad to see Neelix go.

169 down 3 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 168 - Natural Law

"Seven and Chakotay are stranded on a planet with primitive humanoids."

Thankfully they don't really hook-up or anything because really, Chakotay?, please. He ends getting inured and Seven looks for help. They both end up meeting with a primitive culture. Both are impressed by this culture but try not to influence them too much. This doesn't work because soon the people become intrigued by Chakotay's tattoos and Seven's implant.

Meanwhile, Paris gets in trouble for reckless driving and has to go to drivers training class?? Whatever. It's on the same planet that Chakotay/7 are on. You find out that there is a barrier separating the old culture and the new. The crew struggle with the idea of removing the barrier or leaving it there.

168 down 4 to go

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 167 - Friendship One

Voyager now has regular communication with Starfleet. They are then sent on a mission to retrieve a Starfleet Probe named Friendship One. It had been sent years earlier and is believed to be in Voyagers location. They track it down to a planet. This planet has been devastated by nuclear winter. They find the surviving population sick and basically starving. Soon some of Voyagers crew are taken hostage. It is revealed that Friendship One had caused the devastation of the planet. After some fighting back and forth, Janeway finally works out a deal to restore the planets environment. After giving them aid and supplies, Voyager launches probes into the atmosphere which causes the planet to soon become sunny.

167 down 5 to go

Monday, March 28, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 166 - Author, Author

What a fun episode. I think the only character that I will miss from Voyager is The Doctor.  The Doctor writes a novel named Photons Be Free. In it, he is portrayed as a super nice guy while the rest of the crew are complete a-holes. In order to get back at him, Paris changes the novel in order to portray the Doctor as a perverted philanderer. Anyway, after all of that is cleared up, The Doctor eventually gets it published and a flash forward to the future shows that it is somewhat of a hit. I am going to miss The Doctor.

166 down 6 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 165 - Q2

It was good to see Q again. In this one, Q brings Q Junior (who is played by John de Lancie's real life son) to Janeway. He wants him to live on Voyager so that he can learn some manners. The plot is pretty dumb, but whatever. Of course he is a huge pain in the ass and causes a ton of trouble. Eventually he begins to change his ways. The Continuum is annoyed by Q and his dumb antics and they punish him but are pleased by the progress of Q Junior. It was basically a typical Q episode. They should have Q-Bert on episode, played by Burt Reynolds.

165 down 7 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 164 - Human Error

So Seven creates this holodeck program in which she has a romantic relationship with Chakotay... Chakotay?? Anyway, her implant begins to mess her all up and she screws up her duties. The Doctor figures that her implant is activating a program that prevents her from feeling emotions. He said that he is able to remove it after many surgeries but she says no. At the end she declines a dinner invitation from the real Chakotay, thus choosing to remain emotionless. I guess.

164 down 8 to go

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 163 - Workforce pt. 2

Neelix helps Torres to remember her life on Voyager. It seems as if this Plant has been kidnapping people and forcing them into slave labor. Meanwhile on the planet, the doctor at the Plant is becoming suspicious of these new workers. They all are coming down with the same syndrome. This is a bi-product of mind control. She eventually uncovers the plot that her company has been forcing people into slave labor. The local government knows nothing about this and she eventually reports the Plant to the authorities.

Guest stars include the great Donny Most and John Aniston.

163 down 9 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 162 - Workforce pt. 1

The episode begins with Janeway working in a factory, ala Flashdance. We then see that Tuvok, Paris and Torres also work there. Tuvok then goes crazy and is diagnosed with dysphoria syndrome. The doctor treats him and soon he begins to remember his time on Voyager.

Chacotay, Neelix and Kim then return from an away mission to find the crew missing. They determine that they had been kidnapped and taken to a nearby planet. Chakotay goes there in disguise. He then saves Torres and has Neelix take her back to Voyager...

162 down 10 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 161 - The Void

"Voyager is pulled into a void, where the ships that have become trapped attack each other for food and resources."

Why are they always getting stuck in voids?? This episode was way to complicated for such a basic plot. There was just too much going on here. Basically, they get stuck in the void where there are other ships that have been trapped as well. These others scavenge supplies from other ships in order to survive. Voyager is soon wiped clean. Eventually Janeway works an alliance with these other ships. They all work together on a way to escape the void.

161 down 11 to go

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 160 - Prophecy

Voyager runs into a Klingon ship, they are unaware that peace had been made between the two races over 80 years ago. They eventually believe Janeway when the notice Torres being pregnant. They also believe her baby to be the "savior". When it is discovered that these Klingons have a rare disease, they use the babies stem cells to cure them. Literally making it the savior.

Weird side plot: Neelix has sex with a Klingon woman.

160 down 12 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 159 - Repentance

Voyager assists in transporting prisoners to their execution. They are appalled at the guards treatment of the prisoners and eventually Janeway orders her own crew to take over guard duties. Seven befriends a convict named Iko who eventually starts to show remorse for his crime. Neelix then befriends another convict that talks about how he was profiled, this ends up being a ruse in order to escape. The escape attempt fails. Both of these actors ended up being in Sons of Anarchy.

159 down 13 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 158 - Lineage

Torres is pregnant. She doesn't want the baby to look Klingon because she fears a repeat of her terrible childhood. She thinks that her father left because she looked too Klingon. The Doctor says that he can genetically alter the baby if they want. Paris says no, but Torres says yes. They argue for most of the episode, but eventually Paris convinces Torres that he will never leave them.

158 down 14 to go

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 157 - Shattered

This is a very interesting plot. Chakotay is injured in a blast and the Doctor injects him with some serum. The side effect of this allows Chakotay to experience different point of time on different parts of the ship (also different Voyager episodes). For instance, Engineering is stuck in the episode "Basics" in which the Kazon/Seska control Voyager. The bridge is stuck in episode one "Caretaker". Chakotay must get all of the various "episodes" to work together in order to get everything back to normal.

157 down 15 to go

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 156 - Flesh and Blood pt. 2

It doesn't take long for the Doctor to figure out that Iden is untrustworthy. He begins making desperate moves and even starts sacrificing his own kind in an effort to save himself. Torres and the Doctor work together to stop Iden, while Voyager fights to disable the holo-ship. Eventually the Doctor "kills" Iden and the remaining sane holograms get to live as free individuals. The Doctor braces for a harsh reprimand but Janeway goes easy on him. These two episodes generally get good reviews, but I don't know ... I was a little bored.

156 down 16 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 155 - Flesh and Blood pt. 1

"Voyager's hologram technology, which Janeway had previously donated to the Hirogen, has been modified to make the holographic "prey" more cunning, enabling the hologram characters to rebel against their new masters."

Voyager responds to a Hirogen distress call. A group of the hologram "prey" have gone out of control. The holograms have been fighting the Hirogen using a holo-ship. Janeway decides to aid the Hirogen, but the Holo's lead them into a trap. They abduct the Doctor and use him to help repair their own holographic technology. He insists that this is a job for an Engineer, not a Doctor. It takes some time but eventually their leader, named Iden, convinces the Doctor to help them. After all, he is one of them. The Doctor goes back to Voyager and abducts Torres...

155 down 17 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 154 - Nightingale

While on a planet for maintenance, Kim gets stuck in the crossfire between two races, the Anarri and the Kraylor. The Kraylor ask Kim to help them reach their home world safely with much needed medical supplies. He agrees. Janeway is irked because she just negotiated with the Anarri. Kim assumes command of the Kraylor ship and pilots it to their planet. Being attacked by the Anarri most of time, he eventually is forced to abandon the ship before it explodes. Still, everyone arrived home safely. Peace with the Anarri was ruined however. Ron Glass was in this episode.

154 down 18 to go

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 153 - Body and Soul

The "uggh" Delta Flyer is taken hostage by the Lokirrin. Kim and 7 are captured and the Doctor hides himself within 7's body. So now the Doctor is basically 7. As 7 he goes a little crazy wanting to experience everything. He eats a lot, gets drunk and kisses a guy and then gets sexually aroused during a massage from a female. Sounds like every night at Studio 54. Solid episode, and I must admit that Jeri Ryan was good in it.

153 down 19 to go

Monday, March 07, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 152 - Inside Man

Barclay sends a hologram of himself to Voyager. meanwhile his girlfriend has broken up with him. Her name is Leosa. Barclay is upset, so him and Troi go to confront Leosa. Come to find out that she was basically a hooker the entire time. She ended up working for the Ferengi. They had her compromise Barclay's hologram, so that it would go to Voyager and steal 7 of 9. Something dumb like that. The Ferengi are obsessed with 7 and continuesly talk in weird sexual enuendos when discussing her. Meanwhile, Holo-Barclay is on Voyager and must be stopped... I enjoyed seeing The Ferengi again.

152 down 20 to go

Friday, March 04, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 151 - Critical Care

Tons of great acting in this episode. Including, one of my favorite TV actors, Larry Drake. He was Benny on LA Law. One of the best episodes on Voyager. The Doctor is taken ... yet again. This time he is forced to work in an overcrowded hospital run by The Administer where sickness is rampant. But, it's not as straightforward as it seems. Their is a hierarchy for care. Only those deemed worthy are given the best care. The rest are sent to different levels based upon their mental or physical worth. Those at the bottom, just die. The Doctor finds this appalling and sneaks care to everyone. He is finally caught. He devises an ingenious plan to infect The Administer with a disease, thus deeming him to be a "low leveler". Finding this to be unacceptable, The Administer decides to do away with his care hierarchy. Seems too easy, but whatever. It was all your typical old school Negative Eugenics plot.

151 down 21 to go

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 150 - Repression

Far fetched plot, but an interesting one. Voyagers former Marquis crewmembers are suddenly being attacked one by one. During an investigation Tuvok discovers who the attacker is ... it's himself! Come to find out, several years ago he was captured by the Bajorans and forced to undergo mind control. Now that word is out that Starfleet can contact Voyager, the Bajoran priest implants the "code word" in a message from Tuvoks son. Upon watching the message, Tuvok is triggered to attack.

150 down 22 to go

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 149 - Drive

"The crew of Voyager enter the Delta Flyer in a sub-warp race, crewed by Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres, and events conspire to encourage Tom to propose to her."

The character I hate the most on Voyager is the Delta Flyer. Seriously, I hate this thing. Every time they talk about it, I want to vomit.

Why would they bother entering a race?? Especially one in which they could possibly die. Cyia Batten is in this episode as Irina and she is very good in it. Irina teams up with Harry in the race, but secretly she is a terrorist that plans on blowing up the event. Again, sad sack Harry falls for a woman and it ends in disaster.

So the entire time, Paris and Torres are arguing and she plans on leaving him... then he suddenly he proposes and all is well again. Seems like a love that is meant to last.

149 down 23 to go

Monday, February 29, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 148 - Imperfection

"When her cortical implant malfunctions, Seven of Nine needs a life-saving transplant."

I'm sorry, but I still don't care about 7 of 9. All of the Borg children (but Icheb) are sent to live in peace on a planet. 7  finds herself crying and being emotional. She then collapses and it is discovered that her cortical implant is dying and The Doctor can't fix it. She will most likely die. Icheb wants to give her his implant, but it is to risky and no one want him to do it. He operates on himself and takes the implant out and nearly dies. But, he survives and 7 is saved.

148 down 24 to go

Friday, February 26, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 147 - Unimatrix Zero Pt. 2

This is where it really falls apart. The Voyager crew/Borgs start to stop the Queen from destroying Ultramtrix Zero. Tuvoks shot wears off and he goes crazy. Borg Queen confronts Janeway and tries to convince her to stop. Why she doesn't just kill Janeway, I have no idea. Instead she starts to kill thousands of her own drones in an attempt to guilt Janeway into giving in. Janeway is like, "go ahead and destroy the hive, I really don't care." The Borg Queen then decides to unleash a virus in Ultramatrix. Janeway decides to let the matrix be destroyed and just liberate these self-aware Borgs instead. Which she does. Now there are Borgs that are willing to fight against the Borg. Sort of a game changer.

147 down 25 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 146 - Unimatrix Zero

"Janeway, B'Elanna and Tuvok infiltrate a Borg Cube in an attempt to save Borg drones who are trying to develop individuality."

The plot of this Season 6 series finale and the continuation in Season 7 episode one, had a solid plot idea but the production of it just was not that good. It just never got that engaging.

7 of 9 starts "visiting" this utopia named Unimatrix Zero. You can visit this place in your mind, but it is still very real. This is where some Borgs were able to "go" and be their regular selves. On this plane, 7 had a lover named Axum. The Borg Queen is aware of this "place" and want to destroy it. Janeway travels to Unimatrix Zero with 7 and offers to help save it. The Borg Queen then offers Janeway a deal. She will get Voyager home if she doesn't interfere in the destruction of Unimatrix Zero. Of course Janeway refuses. Chakotay then has a crazy idea. Him, Janeway, Tuvok and Torres will infiltrate the Borg Cube. They will be purposely assimilated and then they can unleash the Borg virus. The Doctor has given them a shot to prevent full assimilation. ...finally season 6 is over.

146 down 26 to go

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 145 - The Haunting of Deck Twelve

"As Voyager travels through a nebula all ship's power is turned off, giving Neelix an opportunity to tell the Borg children a ghost story."

There is really not much else to this one. Neelix tells the Borg children a ghost story. I mean its a pretty good story, but that's the entire episode. The irony is that an actual Borg is 100x scarier than ghost.

145 down 27 to go

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 144 - Life Line

"The Doctor's creator, Lewis Zimmerman, is dying in the Alpha Quadrant from a disease similar to the Vidiian phage. The Doctor's compressed matrix is transferred to Zimmerman's lab on the Jupiter station, to assist Mr. Barclay and Counselor Troi in attempting to treat the illness."

Another good one. Lewis Zimmerman is dying and only The Doctor can save him. Now that Barclay can communicate with Voyager, they are able to transmit The Doctor to the Alpha Quadrant for assistance. Lewis is a giant jerk and seemingly hates The Doctor (which is basically a hologram of himself). They have to convince him that The Doctor is more than just a replication of himself. He has gained much more knowledge during Voyagers explorations. Another great Robert Picardo performance. This episode got me thinking about the Patty Duke show, in which Patty Duke plays both herself and her twin...cousin??? Anyway, I watched an episode just to see if the filming still holds up and it does!

144 down 28 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 143 - Fury

"A much older and more powerful Kes returns to Voyager, and attempts to travel back in time to change her history."

I very much enjoyed this episode. Kes is old and super bitter. She blames Janeway for ruining her life. She has traveled back in time to change the course of her life by disabling Voyager and rescuing her younger self. She is insanely powerful and difficult to defeat. It takes her younger self, convincing her older self to finally stop the attack. The plot has a million holes, but who really cares. It was still fun.


143 down 29 to go

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 142 - Muse

"Torres is stranded on a bronze-age planet after a crash in the Delta Flyer, where she helps a playwright adapt the story of Voyager to the stage. Also, Kim is missing in an escape pod."

Though not a great plot, I did enjoy the fact that this was a Bronze-Age planet. They are big into the amphitheater on this world. The emperor orders the playwright to keep making these great Voyager plays. We find out that he has Torres captured. Though not in a bad way really, she has crashed on the planet and he has been caring for her. He thinks that she is one of the great Eternals. She promises to give him more stories if he helps her get back to Voyager. They sort of bond and at the end she helps him make his final Voyager play.. one that the crowd will never forget. At the end she dematerializes and beams away.

142 down 30 to go

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 141 - Live Fast and Prosper

"Con artists impersonate Janeway and Tuvok."

This one is good. There are these con artists that have been going around and pretending to be Janeway and Tuvok. They have been scamming people by making bad deals. It's funny because Tuvok looks like Carl Winslow from Family Matters. Neelix and Paris suddenly realize they too had been scammed by these two a few months earlier. They may have stolen info about Voyager from them. Janeway now has to go around and save her reputation while also trying to catch these imposters.

141 down 31 to go

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 140 - Good Shepherd

"Three crew members who are under-performing are taken on a mission by Janeway."

Janeway takes these crew members in the Delta Flyer on an away mission to get them back into shape. All hell breaks loose, as usual, and they find themselves in a bad situation. The crew members all suck and they basically just keep messing everything up. Janeway has to save them all and nearly dies in the process. In the end she does see a glimmer of hope for these three. Seriously though, how did they end up working on a Starship??

This episode is notable for it's guest appearance by Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against the Machine.

140 down 32 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 139 - Childs Play

"The family of Icheb, one of the Borg children, is found, but he is reluctant to rejoin them. Seven, too, is reluctant for him to leave the ship; and his parents are concealing the real reason for desiring his return."

Not much to say about this episode really. I was bored. evidently Icheb had been purposely planted with a Borg infection as a child. He was to be purposely taken in order to spread the virus and destroy the Borg. I guess that is a neat idea.


139 down 33 to go

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 138 - Ashes to Ashes

"A deceased crew member resurfaces, claiming to have been resurrected by an alien race who have since adopted her."

I enjoyed this episode. Harry Kim's old love interest Lyndsey Ballard suddenly shows up. She had previously thought to have been killed, but in reality she was kidnapped by an alien race and physically transformed into one of them. She no longer looks human, but is still the same in all other matters. Kim and her rekindle their relationship. Soon the alien shows up, her "father". He said that they actually found her dead body and reanimated her as one of them. She is no longer the person she once was. Soon even Lyndsey starts to realize this as she cannot fight off her alien side any longer. Eventually she leaves Voyager.

138 down 34 to go

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 137 - Spirit Folk

"Problems arise from running the holographic Irish village of Fair Haven non-stop, when a malfunction leads the holographic characters to become self-aware."

I thought the Irish Village episode was dumb the first time around, so second time was not really a charm. I mean this hologram program caused problems before so why would they use it again?? In this one the villagers see Paris using his technology and they all think he is a Spirit. The entire village soon gathers up the other crew members and plan to kill them as witches. The thing is, this seems like an 1800s Irish town... it's probably offensive to portray 19th century Irish people like this. But anyway, at least the episode looked nice and had solid acting in it.

137 down 35 to go

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 136 - Collective

"Chakotay, Kim, Paris, and Neelix are taken hostage when the Delta Flyer is captured by Borg children in a derelict Cube."

This episode is similar to the previous, derelict Borg type episode. In that case, The Doctor is unable to de-assimilate the Borg without killing them. Now he has a second chance and is successful in this one. At first these children are out of control and try to assimilate the crew, but they are very bad at it. The Doctor also finds a baby Borg in a jar?? Very odd. Not a bad  episode, but I'm getting tired of the Borg. These Borg kids decide to stay aboard the ship.

136 down 36 to go

Saturday, February 06, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 135 - Tsunkatse

"Seven of Nine and Tuvok are kidnapped while on shore leave, and Seven is forced to fight in a gladiatorial contest to the death."

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson! This is a must watch. It is a total TOS plot throwback. A crewmember gets taken and is forced to fight in the arena. In this case Seven has to fight The Rock. They really fight too, no holding back. Dwayne is in his full on Rock persona, complete with raised eyebrow. Earlier in the episode we see another match between to "aliens" and the martial arts are fantastic.

135 down 37 to go

Thursday, February 04, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 134 - Memorial

Voyager is on a role. Another original idea. The ship passes near a planet and the crewmembers start experiencing severe PTSD and flashbacks to a brutal land battle. They soon figure out that they had been involved in this fight, but their memories were erased. Slowly they remember and it soon becomes clear that during this battle they massacred 87 civilians. They are soon drawn to the planets surface were they remember more terrible details. Janeway finally discovers a giant monolith. This is a war memorial, but it also sends messages into space. These messages are what is causing the crew to "relive" the war. They were actually never there at all but are "learning" about this tragedy through the monolith. I think that is a cool plot. I sort of wished that they really did take part in the fight though.

In the beginning, as a present for Paris, Torres replicates a 1950s style TV. I get it that Tom is into 20th century Earth history. But, that would be like someone giving me an astrolabe. Actually that would be cool.

134 down 38 to go

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 133 - Virtuoso

"Visiting aliens who have never before encountered music become fascinated with the Doctor's Opera singing, and ask him to leave Voyager and join their society."

It may sound like a dumb episode, but it really is not. In fact, it's another original idea...a society that never developed music. The Doctor really gets into his role as an Opera Superstar (if such a thing ever existed ever). Robert Picardo was great in this one.

133 down 39 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 132 - Blink of an Eye

"Voyager is trapped in orbit around a planet with a space-time differential such that, while its inhabitants live through years, Voyager experiences mere minutes."

This was a very interesting episode. Voyager watches this society grow from basically nothing to advanced space capabilities in minutes. The episode flashes between life on Voyager and life down on the planet. I enjoyed this episode because it was a fresh idea that broke up the monotony of always encountering the same type of "alien environments". The other thing that was refreshing was the planet itself (especially in the early years). It seemed like what I can only describe as being very "King Arthur". This is something we really have not seen since TOS, and maybe a bit of TNG.

132 down 40 to go

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 131 - Fair Haven

"The crew enjoy a respite inside a holodeck creation designed by Tom Paris, while Voyager faces the threat of an oncoming storm in space."

So Kim and Paris write a holodeck program of an Irish Village. Janeway then falls in love with a hologram barkeeper. Non of it works.

131 down 41 to go

Friday, January 29, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 130 - Pathfinder

"Barclay gets over-involved with holographic recreations of the Voyager crew in his attempts to contact them. This episode also features Deanna Troi."

Awesome episode! I was not expecting to ever see any TNG members appear on this show, and Barclay is good in small doses. In this one, Barclay is obsessed  with contacting Voyager. Currently he is working for Admiral Paris (sound familiar?) and this has been interfering with his real work. Barclay meets up with Troi for some friendly guidance. Eventually Barclay figures out how to open a tiny wormhole to relay a message into the Delta Quadrant, however nobody believes him. He goes ahead and sends the message to Voyager anyway. They actually receive it. The wormhole is only opened for a few minutes but both sides are able to transmit vital data to each other and Admiral Paris tells his son Tom that he is proud of him.

130 down 42 to go

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 129 - The Voyager Conspiracy

Voyager finds a race that have a space catapult (???). Meanwhile 7 of 9 downloads a ton of information from the ships logs into her memory bank. She soon figures out a conspiracy involving Janeway. This entire journey was planned by Starfleet, the Cadassians, Janeway and Tuvok. She breaks it all down incident by incident. After a while she changes her analysis and implicates Chakotay as the conspirator. He is still working for the Marquis. Then another theory comes out, it was all a secret mission to steal a Borg (her). In the end, it ends up that she overloaded herself with data and is malfunctioning. She really does a good job breaking down the facts, I believed it every time! Voyager uses the sling shot and gets three years closer to home.


129 down 43 to go

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 128 - One Small Step

Voyager encounters an energy ellipse. It basically swallows anything that has energy. While investigating they discover that inside the ellipse is the Ares IV. This was a module that was lost during Earth's mission to Mars in 2032 containing Lt. John Kelly. The crew fly the Delter Flyer into the ellipse and find the Ares. They are trapped and must salvage pieces of the Ares to get back out, but not before they download all of Kelly's logs. This was a great episode and I enjoyed seeing the flashbacks to Kelly as he struggles to survive in the ellipse. Lt. Kelly was played by Phil Morris (Jackie Chiles from Seinfeld). Interesting fact: Morris was on TOS as a child and then had small appearances in Star Trek III, DS9 and now Voyager.

128 down 44 to go

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 127 - Riddles

"Returning from a diplomatic mission Tuvok is attacked by a cloaked intruder and suffers neurological damage."

Tuvok basically becomes a simpleton, Neelix and Tuvok then become best buddies, they cook together and listen to Jazz. Very strange episode. Again, I will complain about the constant use of Jazz in Star Trek. No one listens to it know! Why would everyone be way into it in the future!?!?

Trapped in Tuvok's mind is a warp signature that Janeway desperately needs to solve a conflict between two alien worlds. Eventually Tuvok bakes a cake and subconsciously decorates it with the warp signature. Seriously. The Doctor gets him back to normal, but Neelix and Tuvok are both sort of saddened that their friendship will never be the same. It's basically Of Mice and Men in Space.

127 down 45 to go

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 126 - Alice

"Tom Paris becomes obsessed with a salvaged alien shuttlecraft, which appears to have a mind of its own."

I feel a similar episode has already occurred, but I can't remember for sure. So basically Paris ends up with KITT from Night Rider. Except this vehicle not only talks but projects itself as a woman named Alice. It convinces Paris to fly it to a place called the Fountain where pretty much they both will be killed. I still have no idea why?

126 down 46 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 125 - Dragons Teeth

"Voyager discovers a network of subspace passageways, but is forced to land on a planet after being attacked."

Voyager is being assisted by a species named the Turei, they ask Janeway to wipe any records of their subspace passage. She refuses and Voyager is attacked. They land on a planet and find another race named the Vaadwaur (all in stasis). 7 wakes one of them up. This sets off a chain of events that reignite an age old war between the Turei and Vaadwaur. Somewhere along the way Voyager ends up getting 200 light years closer to home.

125 down 47 to go

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 124 - Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy

"The Doctor adds daydreaming to his program, imagining himself as the Emergency Command Hologram (ECH) aboard Voyager; but aliens, tapping into his perceptions to observe the crew, prepare an attack when they believe that what they are seeing in the daydreams is real."

This has to be one of the top ten best episodes in Voyager. It is great fun and Robert Picardo is excellent in it. These aliens are really goofy looking, which I like for a change. In fact they look exactly like those two freaky twins in Nothing but Trouble, one of the dumbest movies ever and also one of my all time favorites. Anyway I enjoyed seeing The Doctor act out his over the top heroic fantasies but then actually need to save the ship in real life.

According to Wikipedia the title is a reference to the spy novel Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré. The plot is also based on  The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

124 down 48 to go

Friday, January 15, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 123 - Barge of the Dead

"B'Elanna's shuttle is hit by an ion storm and she awakens to find herself among Klingons in the Barge of the Dead, on the way to Klingon Hell."

Damn. B'Elanna dies and goes to hell?? It's never really explained as to whether this is real or a vision. She did really die though. The episode is a very interesting look into the Klingon journey to hell. You can only imagine how brutal it is. I never really noticed how similar the Klingons are to Vikings.

I did miss seeing some Klingon themed episodes.

123 down 49 to go

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 122 - Survival Instinct

"Three Borg from Seven's past appear, and ask to be completely separated from the Collective."

During a crash several years prior, Two, Three, Four and Seven of Nine had all been separated from the hive. Soon they started to become individuals again, 7 fought against the urge however. The other three escaped the Collective but ended up endlessly linked together. Now they track down 7 and ask her to help separate them so that they can live normal lives. The Doctor can do it, however they will only live one month. Still, they decide that living a normal life for a month is better than eternity as a Borg. Great episode.

122 down 50 to go

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 121 - Equinox Pt. 2

The Doctor infiltrates the Equinox but is captured. Captain Ransom (really, that's his name??), uses The Doctor to probe 7 of 9's mind trying to use her "energy" for his experiments. After awhile, Ransom starts to realize the error of his ways. Unfortunately his crew disagrees and they form a mutiny. Ransom then sends his entire crew, along with The Doctor and 7 back over to Voyager. He then explodes the ship, destroying himself and his creatures.

Janeway punished the Equinox crew, but eventually integrates them onto Voyager. Chakotay is reinstated as Commander. So, wow, this really was another lost Starfleet crew. I wasn't expecting that.
So begins, Season 6. I still have 2 seasons top go?? Ugggh. I mean, yay.

121 down 51 to go

Star Trek VGR Episode 120 - Equinox Pt. 1

Much to everyone's surprise, Voyager receives a distress call from a Federation ship named Equinox. They too have been trapped in the Delta Quadrant. On board is Torres' old boyfriend Maxwell Burke ... how convenient. He is played by Titus Welliver who is on the Amazon Prime show Bosch, which he is insanely good on.
It is soon discovered that Equinox has a secret room. Here, they have been harvesting energy from alien species and turning them into new creatures. Yeah, it's sort of bizarre. The Equinox crew then take 7 of 9 and start attacking Voyager. So, yet AGAIN 7 gets kidnapped?! Also, I sense another episode in which this "Starfleet crew" is actually some alien species in disguise. I guess we will see in "Equinox Part Too The Sequel Back to Beach"

120 down 52 to go

Thursday, January 07, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 119 - Warhead

"The crew rescue a device with artificial intelligence embedded in rock, but it then proceeds to take control of The Doctor and reveals itself to be a weapon of mass destruction."

May be one of the best episodes of season 5. Another old school TOS type plot. This device they find in the rock is a rather cute little robot and seems like it genuinely needs assistance. The Doctor believes it and they bring it aboard Voyager. It soon reveals that it is a WOMD. It tries to finish it's destructive mission., but Kim thwarts its efforts. They soon destroy the warhead ... and also find 30 other warheads in the process. Then at the end a puppet of Ronald Regan emerges from a bed full of water. Remember the Land of Confusion video?? It was horrifying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pkVLqSaahk

119 down 53 to go

Tuesday, January 05, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 118 - Relativity

Another time travel, timeline, time stream episode. This one has Captain Braxton trying to stop a bomb from destroying Voyager in the past. In the future, 7 of 9 is sent back in time to find and detonate the bomb. She fails several times, but keeps getting sent back to make things right. 7 of 9 figures out that Braxton is actually trying to destroy Voyager, not save it. Future 7 tells Past 7 the truth. They eventually convince Janeway to help stop Braxton. The episode is incredibly confusing.

118 down 54 to go

Sunday, January 03, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 117 - 11:59

"Janeway reminisces about one of her ancestors, Shannon O'Donnell from Indiana."

This was an excellent episode. It's a "flashback" to one of Janeway's ancestors named Shannon. She was one of the first female astronauts and helped usher in the construction of the Millennium gate. This monument somehow aided in the colonization of Mars. I still don't understand how. Anyway, the year is 2000 and for some reason Shannon is driving a 1970s Station Wagon. She then gets into a fender bender with a 1980s Camaro. Something seems a bit off here. Maybe it is because Janeway is telling the story and she doesn't have a good understanding of this time??
Anyway, Shannon ends up in a town where they are trying to bulldoze the downtown area to make way for the Millennium Gate. The storeowners do not want to leave. Shannon seeks shelter from the cold in a bookstore and befriends the owner, Henry.

So here is where Neelix interjects into the story because he has found some new historical info. Shannon tries to convince Henry to sell, because she was never an astronaut...she worked for the company that was building the gate. Henry finds this out and tells her to leave. She feels bad and comes back. Henry eventually does sell his store and ends up marrying Shannon. Come to think of it, non of this makes any damn sense. John Carroll Lynch is in this episode.

117 down 55 to go

Saturday, January 02, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 116 - Someone to Watch Over Me

"Seven of Nine explores dating with some help from the Doctor."

Neelix is tasked with escorting an ambassador named Tomlin around the ship. Tomlin soon gets drunk and wild (he is played by the great Scott Thompson). Meanwhile The Doctor is teaching 7 how to be in a relationship, he soon finds himself falling for her. At one point he mentions that he once saw a species that was five sexes. What the hell??? I enjoyed this episode. It had some great quest stars, Thompson, Ian Abercrombie and Brian McNamara.

116 down 56 to go

Friday, January 01, 2016

Star Trek VGR Episode 115 - Juggernaut

"The crew respond to a distress call from Malon escape pods contaminated with radiation."

Remember the Malon? They were the ones dumping toxic waste in space. Well Voyager responds to a Malon distress call. The ship has leaked it's "haul" and is leaking radiation. Everyone dies except for the ships captain. Also, once the ship explodes it will take out everything in 3 light years. The side plot regards Tuvok trying to help Torres quell her anger. Which is sort of dumb because she is a Klingon. Why make her less Klingon? Seems wrong. Anyway, Lee Arenberg is in this episode, he is in the show Once Upon A Time and the Pirate's of the Carribean Series. He is a good actor.

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Star Trek VGR Episode 114 - Think Tank

"Voyager is being chased by the Hazari when a think tank offers assistance."
The think tank wants 7 of 9 to join them. In fact, they are playing both sides of this conflict in order to force Janeway to give over 7. The problem was, the entire time I couldn't get over how bad Jason Alexander was. He was basically just acting like himself. Would an alien really have a New York accent?

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