Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Part 1

Written by:

Rian Johnson

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Directed by:

Rian Johnson

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Release Date:

2017

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Hey, they got the logo right. So far so good!

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's the first part of my review of the most divisive Star Wars movie: Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi. And it really is his movie as he was both director and writer (with a little help from Carrie Fisher). He brought his style to the Star Wars universe here in a way that a lot of fans... responded to.

If you organise all the Star Wars episodes by their user rating on sites like IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, etc. there's always one movie that ends up right at the bottom, and that is... The Rise of Skywalker (except on Metacritic where TROS came second to The Phantom Menace). The Last Jedi is even higher up the rankings when you look at critic scores, and I've seen plenty of positivity from fans on podcasts and YouTube. But when people talk about "the movie that ruined Star Wars", it's usually this one they're referring to. There's so much hate for this film out there you'd think it was on the level of franchise killers like Batman & Robin, Jaws: The Revenge, or Alien: Resurrection.

Though to be honest, I actually liked Alien: Resurrection, and I enjoyed the The Last Jedi as well. At least I think I did... it's been a while. I don't know if this rewatch is going to turn me against the film, but I'll definitely see if I can pinpoint where other people's frustration is coming from. I'll be going through the movie scene by scene, so there will be SPOILERS below for this and any of the Star Wars episodes up to this point.

Star Trek: Picard 3-04: No Win Scenario (Quick Review)

Episode:

24

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Writer:

Terry Matalas & Sean Tretta

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Director:

Jonathan Frakes

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Air Date:

09-Mar-2023

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm writing about more Star Trek: Picard. It's season 3, episode 4: No Win Scenario.

In Star Trek, a no win scenario is a situation where there's no possible way to achieve any kind of good outcome. It's a mythical thing, like Rumpelstiltskin or the Greek god Apollo, except less likely to be encountered by a veteran crew with an ongoing series. Sure the heroes lose sometimes, but if they ever think a situation looks hopeless they're just not looking at it from the right perspective yet.

The episode was written by Terry Matalas and Sean Tretta, so the showrunner scripted this one personally. You'll see often a showrunner's name on the most crucial and impressive episodes in a season, the opening chapters, the epic finales, the format-breaking stories, the ones that reveal something about the characters... though on Deep Space Nine you'd also see it on all those Ferengi stories. Ira Behr did love them Ferengi.

I hope you're okay with SPOILERS because this is where they start.

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.