Star Trek: Discovery 5-05: Mirrors (Quick Review)

Episode:

60

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Writer:

Johanna Lee & Carlos Cisco

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Director:

Jen McGowan

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Air Date:

25-Apr-2024

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm watching the 60th episode of Star Trek: Discovery! Okay that's not really that notable as a milestone, not compared to 50, but it's the last round number that the series will ever reach. And honestly, I don't think we'll see another Trek series reaching 60 in the foreseeable future. Short Treks made it to 10, Picard ended at 30, Prodigy seems like it's ending at 40 and Lower Decks is ending at 50.

It's a shame, because 60 episodes was nothing to the '90s shows; that'd barely get you into season 3. Though on the other hand, it brought Doctor Who from the start of Christopher Eccleston's run all the way up to Matt Smith, and it was all the Original Series had in it before it started going downhill, so you can be plenty iconic in just 60 stories. If they're really good.

Anyway, the episode's called Mirrors, and 'mirror' is an important word for Star Trek, especially when it's next to the word 'universe'. I don't think that's where they'll be going with this, for all kinds of reasons, but hey the episode could surprise me.

There will be SPOILERS below for this and other Star Trek shows. So if I do have reason to start talking about TOS' Mirror, Mirror or DS9's Crossover, I will.

Star Trek: Picard 3-03: Seventeen Seconds (Quick Review)

Episode:

23

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Writer:

Jane Maggs & Cindy Appel

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Director:

Jonathan Frakes

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Air Date:

02-Mar-2023

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm watching Seventeen Seconds, written by Jane Maggs & Cindy Appel.

Those two were the writers for the weak middle chapters of Star Trek: Picard's second season, but who knows how much of its weakness was due to their writing and how much was because of the story they'd been given to tell. I mean director Jonathan Frakes also worked on those episodes, and he's got a fairly solid track record! He's is the only Star Trek: The Next Generation director to still be directing Star Trek to this day, and the only live-action Trek spin-off he's missed out on directing for so far is Enterprise. I guess he was too busy directing Clockstoppers and Thunderbirds at the time.

There will be SPOILERS ahead.

Star Trek: Discovery 5-04: Face the Strange (Quick Review)

Episode:

59

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Writer:

Sean Cochran

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Director:

Lee Rose

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Air Date:

18-Apr-2024

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing my thoughts about the latest Star Trek: Discovery episode, Face the Strange.

You can't judge an episode by its title, though it can certainly give you clues about what to expect. Like if you're watching a Star Trek episode called 'Prophet Margin' or 'Give Us a Q' or 'Those Bloody Tribbles are Still Trouble', you basically know what you're getting. So I'm going into Face the Strange expecting characters to face strangeness and if this doesn't happen I'm going to be very disappointed. Discovery's often been at its best when it's leaned into the weird, like in Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad and An Obol for Charon, and the series is about due for its next injection of creative chaos.

There will be SPOILERS below for Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek in general.

Star Trek: Picard 3-02: Disengage (Quick Review)

Episode:

22

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Writer:

Christopher Monfette & Sean Tretta

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Director:

Doug Aarniokoski

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Air Date:

23-Feb-2023

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching another episode of Picard, called Disengage. Hey, I see what they did there.

It was written by Christopher Monfette & Sean Tretta. I recognise Monfette from season 2, he worked on some of the better eps, but I don't think I've seen Tretta's name on anything before. Director Doug Aarniokoski has been there since the start, he's the one that did Nepenthe, The Star Gazer, Penance... lots of the good episodes. Aarniokoski was on Discovery as well, starting with the episode Lethe, so he's a proper Star Trek veteran. He hasn't done any of Strange New Worlds yet, but I suppose there's plenty of time for that now it's been renewed.

There will be SPOILERS below, so beware.

Star Trek: Discovery 5-03: Jinaal (Quick Review)

Episode:

58

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Writer:

Kyle Jarrow & Lauren Wilkinson

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Director:

Andi Armaganian

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Air Date:

11-Apr-2024

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching the third episode of Star Trek: Discovery's final season, Jinaal.

I've mentioned this before, but it's rarely a good sign when Star Trek decides to go with a short made-up word for an episode title. Sometimes it works out and you get a Sarek or a Darmok, but no one's dying to see Melora or Rajiin again. Personally I prefer the more poetic and evocative titles. Give me something like The City on the Edge of Forever, The Measure of a Man, or Parth Ferengi's Heart Place.

I mean, which of these sounds like it's going to be the better written episode: The Girl in the Fireplace or Praxeus? GROPOS or Intersections in Real Time? Though don't bring up the critically-acclaimed and beloved Star Wars series Andor, we're not talking about how it gets away with half its episodes having names like Kassa, Aldhani and Narkina 5.

Anyway, writer Kyle Jarrow has done a couple of episodes of Discovery's fourth season, one I liked, one I didn't like so much, but Lauren Wilkinson is new to the show. She's known for writing the novel American Spy and working on spy thriller series Citadel, so maybe this is going to have some spy stuff in it? That might not be so bad!

There will be SPOILERS below for Star Trek stories released on or before 11th April 2024, including this one.

Star Trek: Picard 3-01: The Next Generation (Quick Review)

Episode:

21

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Writer:

Terry Matalas

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Director:

Doug Aarniokoski

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Air Date:

16-Feb-2023

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm starting Star Trek: Picard season 3 with the episode The Next Generation.

There's nothing weird about Star Trek shows switching showrunners, but it's funny how every season of Picard is clearly a new creator's story. The first season was helmed by novelist Michael Chabon, the second was by Akiva Goldsman, and the third was by Terry Matalas. Okay, that's an oversimplification, as Goldsman also worked on season 1 and Matalas worked on season 2, and the episodes themselves were by a bunch of different writers, but this was definitely Matalas' turn to steer the ship.

I'm one of the people who enjoyed season 2 but I have to concede that it was a bit of a mess. In fact, a lot of Trek fans consider it to be a complete train wreck, an embarrassing disaster, perhaps the worst season of Star Trek ever made. The trouble is, it's hard to tell how much of that was due to Terry Matalas' presence and how much was due to his absence. There was some overlap with the production of the second and third seasons, and Matalas switched his attention to season 3 after just a few episodes. So it could be that season 2 collapsed without him or it could be that his decisions set the season on a course for catastrophe.

Anyway, at the time I'm writing this intro I already know how season 3 went, but my episode reviews were written back when they were coming out so they're all full of authentic ignorance. It just took me a year to publish them because, I dunno, it seemed more important to write about The Trouble with Tribbles and Doctor Who's 60th anniversary, and Picard got pushed to the back burner.

There will be SPOILERS in this review for the whole episode, and things like Star Trek: Discovery, but it won't give away anything that happens later as I didn't actually know what happens later.

Star Trek: Discovery 5-02: Under the Twin Moons (Quick Review)

Episode:

57

|

Writer:

Alan McElroy

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Director:

Doug Aarniokoski

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Air Date:

04-Apr-2024

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm writing about the second episode of Star Trek: Discovery's final season, Under the Twin Moons! I need to pick up the pace though, as I'm falling behind. We waited two years for the series to return then they dropped two episodes on us on the same day, so they're a week ahead of me.

There are some familiar names up there under the picture. Director Doug Aarniokoski had been with the series since the beginning, or since the episode Lethe anyway. But he had more success over on Star Trek: Picard, with series highlights like Nepenthe, The Star Gazer and Penance having his name on them. Writer Alan McElroy hasn't impressed me as much, but I did like An Obol for Charon at least. I think there's the potential there for this to be a good one.

There will be SPOILERS after this point. Though I won't spoil anything that happens later, partly because episode 3 wasn't even out yet at the time I wrote this.