Classic Coverage looks back on the episodes of past shows from a modern perspective.
“Latent Image”Star Trek: Voyager – Season 5, Episode 11 The Doctor was one of the most interesting aspects of Star Trek: Voyager’s premise – a holographic character on the main cast. The Next Generation had an android character, but the … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? (Best of Voyager) – “Latent Image”
“I’m evolving as an individual.” I wish I had more to say about “Home on the Remains.” It’s not bad, except for a couple places where it is. It’s also not very good, except for a few scenes. Mostly, it’s … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 2×07, “Home on the Remains”
Written by: Ron HughartDirected by: Eric HorstedDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential This is another all-time favourite that I would comfortably slip into NONESSENTIAL status without that being an insult to the episode. This is definitely in the top … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Seventeen, “War Is The H-Word”
“Nothing Human”Star Trek: Voyager – Season 5, Episode 8 Ethics have always been one of the central themes of Star Trek. It’s a franchise very much concerned with right and wrong, and the complex situations that give rise to a … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? (Best of Voyager) – “Nothing Human”
A man leaves a present at a wedding and leaves. The tag reads, “To the Newlyweds: Don’t Open Till [sic] Doomsday.” How anyone is supposed to know when Doomsday will happen is a great mystery, so the warning is disregarded … Continue reading The Outer Limits: S1E18 “Don’t Open Until Doomsday”
“I don’t know art, but I know what I don’t like.” Maldis’s original episode, “That Old Black Magic,” works because it has clear emotional stakes for every character involved, and because the mechanics of the magic are straightforward, if vague: … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 2×06, “Picture If You Will”
Written by: Eric Rogers, Ken Keeler, and David X Cohen.Directed by: Chris Louden and Rich Moore.DN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential So, this is our first of the “Anthology” episodes – the Futurama equivalent to the “Treehouse Of Horror” … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Sixteen, “Anthology Of Interest I”
“Timeless”Star Trek: Voyager – Season 5, Episode 6 Reset Button Episodes are a tried-and-true Star Trek tradition that often make for series bests. It’s not a huge mystery why – they feature alternate timelines/futures that have strayed from the regular … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? (Very Best of Voyager) – “Timeless”
We’ve reached the halfway point in our review series of the first season of The Outer Limits. This week is the first time I get to grapple with an episode I’ve seen before. “Controlled Experiment” sees two Martians disguised as … Continue reading The Outer Limits: S1E16 “Controlled Experiment”
“I am what I am, and I did what I did.” Farscape is, for the most part, a very forward-thinking show. The characters have secrets and backstories, and those histories do matter, but even when engaging with where a character … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 2×05, “The Way We Weren’t”
Written by: Patrick M Verrone, Darin Henry (story)Directed by: Chris Suave, Greg VanzoDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL Last week, there was discussion of a possible violent uprising if I didn’t give this episode ESSENTIAL status. Luckily for me, … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Fifteen, “The Problem With Popplers”
“Drone”Star Trek: Voyager (Season 5, Episode 2) I love when a stupid idea works. There’s a particular thrill and amazement to seeing something that sounded totally idiotic actually succeed before your eyes. It’s like watching a daredevil do some insane … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? (Best of Voyager) – “Drone”
An inmate sentenced to life in prison agrees to be the first human test subject for an experiment in teleportation. He will be broken up into individual particles and launched across the universe. If the experiment succeeds, he’ll be returned … Continue reading The Outer Limits: S1E15 “The Mice”
“Humans are SUPERIOR!” I love “Crackers Don’t Matter” because outside of “We’re So Screwed,” it has maybe Farscape’s most direct title. The crackers don’t matter thematically, but they also literally don’t matter—they’re a MacGuffin that does nothing except exist for … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 2×04, “Crackers Don’t Matter”
Written by: Lewis MortonDirected by: Brian SheesleyDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL This is another one I actually haven’t seen in a while and I can’t remember why – maybe it’s another one that was scratched on my DVD? … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Fourteen, “Mother’s Day”
“Jetrel”Star Trek: Voyager (Season 1, Episode 15) It’s pretty much a given that a Star Trek series will have a shaky first season. That “finding its footing” period usually spans at least a season or two; figuring out the character … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? (Best of Voyager) – “Jetrel”
“But whatever you want… you cannot want to die.” CN: Discussions of self-harm and suicide. Obviously, there are problems with “Taking the Stone.” The effects are bad. The costumes are really silly. All of the guest characters speak in a … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 2×03, “Taking the Stone”
Written By: Eric HorstedDirected By: Peter AvanzinoDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential Fun story: this is an episode I haven’t revisited much, not because there’s not much to it but because my season two DVD got scratched and that … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Thirteen, “Bender Gets Made”
No, not that “Nemesis”… “Nemesis”Star Trek: Voyager (Season 4, Episode 4) War is hell, y’know? It’s a fundamental message that’s been a part of Trek since The Original Series, and explored in a number of episodes throughout each subsequent series … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? (Best of Voyager) – “Nemesis”
An alien spaceship filled with criminals lands on Earth. It arrives with a simple message: if we destroy the ship, the aliens will destroy all of us. The military agrees to protect the ship, but a chance encounter with a … Continue reading The Outer Limits: S1E14 “The Zanti Misfits”
“And holy women never go bad?” Unusually for Farscape, the cold open of “Vitas Mortis” fails to set up any obvious compelling conflict. D’Argo, Zhaan, and John visit a Luxan priestess (or, I suppose, “orican”), but they don’t need anything … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 2×02, “Vitas Mortis”
