Classic Coverage looks back on the episodes of past shows from a modern perspective.
Written by: Eric KaplanDirected by: Brian SheesleyDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential Dr Zoidberg is one of my favourite characters on Futurama, which puts him in the running for being one of my favourite characters of all time. And … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Five, “Why Must I Be A Crustacean In Love?”
“Judgment”Star Trek: Enterprise – Season 2, Episode 19 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, while a great and entertaining Trek film, doesn’t seem to carry the same deserved cultural cache as other entries in the Original Series franchise. That usually … Continue reading You Undiscovered Trek to Me? – “Judgment”
“It’s a Jerry Springer kinda family, but for what it’s worth, Zhaan, you are family.” All season long, the crew of Moya have been growing closer—gradually becoming allies, then friends, and finally, family. The season finale could have been a … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×22, “Family Ties”
Written by: David X CohenDirected by: Peter AvanzinoDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL I honestly went back and forth on how to categorise this episode before landing on ESSENTIAL – it never fully manages to come together in a … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode “Xmas Story”
“Flashback”(Star Trek: Voyager – Season 3, Episode 2) When it comes to long-running pop culture properties (particularly sci-fi and fantasy ones), legacy is a delicate and tricky thing. Beyond the challenges of maintaining the lore’s continuity… Oh, wait. I think … Continue reading You Undiscovered Trek to Me? – “Flashback”
O.B.I.T. is a wireless electronic surveillance system used to constantly monitor the lives of scientists at the Defense Department. Someone watches the feeds 24/7 to look for any minor infraction or security risk. One unfortunate security guard witnesses an inhuman … Continue reading The Outer Limits: S1E07 “O.B.I.T.”
“There is much cruelty in the universe.” For an ostensible planetside romp episode, there’s a lot going on in “Bone to Be Wild.” The episode has three major throughlines: the A-plot and two heavily serialized subplots. The plots intersect in … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×21, “Bone to Be Wild”
Written by: J Stewart BurnsDirected by: Bret HaalandDN’S Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL There are so many levels on which this is an essential episode of Futurama. Of course, there’s the fact that it’s one of funniest half hours … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Three, “A Head In The Polls”
“Pascal’s Triangle Revisited” originally aired on NBC Thursday night, May 20, 2010″ One of the dirtiest little secrets of Community is that it never quite sticks the landing. Other than the series-ending “Emotional Consequences Of Broadcast Television”, i can’t think … Continue reading A Community Notification For This: S1E25, “Pascal’s Triangle Revisited”
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) Star Trek: The Original Series is fondly remembered in large part because of the social and political allegory it dabbled in. It was rarely subtle or delivered with finesse, but in the context … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? – “The Undiscovered Country”
An astronaut returns to earth after a mission to discover he has traveled over 200 years into the future. Humanity as we know it no longer exists. An extraterrestrial microbe wiped out most of the population, leaving the survivors physically … Continue reading The Outer Limits: S1E06 “The Man Who Was Never Born”
“He thought it was about his doomsday device—about wormholes. It wasn’t. It was only about the time I kissed a girl.” The basic story of “Nerve”/“The Hidden Memory” is pretty simple. John breaks into a Gammak Base to find a … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×19, “Nerve” / 1×20, “The Hidden Memory”
Written by: Lewis MortonDirected by: Jeffrey LynchDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL I will admit that the ‘nonessential/essential’ categorisation of episodes is a bit messy and intuitive to me; I know for a fact that there are definitely episodes … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode Two, “Brannigan, Begin Again”
A genetic researcher has developed a machine that allows him to speed up the genes responsible for evolution. A young woman volunteers for the chance to become smarter, but she isn’t fit for the experiment. Her boyfriend is a match … Continue reading The Outer Limits: S1E05 “The Sixth Finger”
“How does a damned virus get to be so smart anyway?” A Note: I tried, but I couldn’t find a way to review this episode entirely without spoilers. They’re minor, but there are references to the next two episodes of … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×18, “A Bug’s Life”
Written by: Patrick VerroneDirected by: Mark EvrineDN’s Ranking: Bad / Nonessential / ESSENTIAL I was thinking about this before watching it and was surprised to realise that I would put it in the ‘essential’ category with no qualification. The less … Continue reading Futurama, Season Two, Episode One, “I Second That Emotion”
“The Savage Curtain”(Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3, Episode 22) The nature of Good and Evil is a fundamental and deeply complex subject that crosses many academic topics – philosophy, psychology, history, etc. It’s especially relevant to anyone … Continue reading You Talking Trek to Me? – “The Savage Curtain”
“English as a Second Language” originally aired on NBC Thursday night May 13, 2010 Couple things: 1) Community never set out to be “the show that just parodies everything”, and 2) nearly anything that followed “Modern Warfare” would seem like … Continue reading A Community Notification For This: S1E24, “English As A Second Language”
A college professor becomes the key figure in a top secret experiment. He receives an implant in his brain that gives him telekinetic control over the untapped energy reserves in space. This rolling cloud of electricity can destroy anything he … Continue reading The Outer Limits: S1E04 “The Man with the Power
“I’ve always wondered what could be beyond the height, depth, width, and time.” “Nausea.” “Through the Looking Glass” is an interestingly vanilla episode, for Farscape. It’s a “ship in trouble” plot with a misunderstood creature at its center, and it … Continue reading The Wonders I’ve Seen: 1×17, “Through the Looking Glass”
Written by: Lewis MortonDirected by: Ron HughartDN’s Ranking: Bad / NONESSENTIAL / Essential Some of us have said how we can relate to Fry and see ourselves in his problems, and how they’re larger-than-life exaggerations of relatable problems. Certainly, I … Continue reading Futurama, Season One, Episode Twelve, “Fry And The Slurm Factory”
