Babylon 5 2-11: All Alone in the Night

Episode:

33

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

15-Feb-1995

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about an episode of television! Every season of Babylon 5 lasts precisely 22 episodes, so by my calculations that makes All Alone in the Night the midpoint of season two.

I did some more calculations and figured out I've heard the phrase 'all alone in the night' exactly 32 times already, as it's been part of the opening monologue on every episode so far. Other titles they could've used include: 'A Shining Beacon in Space', 'A Dangerous Place', 'Our Last Best Hope for Peace', 'Neutral Territory', uh... 'The Name of the Place'. Could've, but didn't.

So this is a bit like the Where No Man Has Gone Before of Babylon 5 then I suppose. Kind of makes it seem like the episode's going to be a little more monumental than most, though my fuzzy memories are telling me... it isn't.

I'm going to go through the whole episode now, sharing my thoughts and screencaps as I go, so be prepared for SPOILERS. It's probably best to assume there'll be spoilers for earlier B5 episodes too, though I won't ruin anything about what happens later.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-07: Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad (Quick Review)

Episode:

7

|

Writer:

Aron Eli Coleite & Jesse Alexander

|

Air Date:

29-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm watching an episode that skips the pre-credits entirely and jumps straight into the action, so I'm going to do the same for a change. SPOILERS tho.

The Orville 1-07: Majority Rule (Quick Review)

Episode:

7

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Writer:

Seth MacFarlane

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Air Date:

26-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm trying to get some words down about another episode of The Orville as quickly as my brain will go.

The series is back after taking a week off, presumably to give Seth MacFarlane a break to write more episodes, seeing as he's been credited on 6 out of 7 of them so far. Actually, I'm sure he probably he wrote all these scripts before filming even began, seeing as he's the lead actor and kind of needs to be working on set all day when the filming's happening. Though part of me still wants to believe that whenever the rest of the cast were playing around on their phones waiting for the next shot to be set up, he was sitting somewhere quiet with a laptop out, just hammering out these scripts like a machine.

This is a quick review of Minority Rule without my usual recap. There may be some SPOILERS for earlier The Orville episodes beyond this point. There definitely will be for this episode.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-06: Lethe (Quick Review)

Episode:

06

|

Writer:

Joe Menosky & Ted Sullivan

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Air Date:

22-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm trying to get some words written up about the new episode of Star Trek: Discovery in a hurry before a newer one comes along.

Lethe was written by Supergirl writer Ted Sullivan and Star Trek legend Joe Menosky... who wrote that episode of Deep Space Nine I hated. He's written better stuff than Dramatis Personae though, like Next Gen's Darmok and almost every Voyager two-parter. To be honest, I wasn't all that keen on a lot of his Voyager or Next Gen work, but I've got no worries about this episode. Discovery's been so consistent for me so far that I'm sure I'll like this episode exactly as much as I've liked the other five so far. Probably.

This is one of my quick reviews, so there'll be no recap, but there will be lots of SPOILERS, both for events in this episode and maybe a couple of other Trek stories. I won't spoil any episode that hasn't aired yet though.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 2-06: Melora

Episode:

26

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Writer:

Evan Carlos Somers and Steven Baum and Michael Piller & James Crocker

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Air Date:

31-Oct-1993

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures it's two-thirds of the way through October and I'm only up to episode 6 of Deep Space Nine's second season. I'm starting to think that I'm going to run out of year before I can finish the season off.

It's not the worst time to watch this episode though, as Melora originally aired in October. In fact, it was shown on the 31st, but I don't think it's a horror episode. At least, not deliberately. Though it's an episode with a character's name as its one-word title and they're rarely ever good in my experience.

I should probably have made this one a quick review and gotten it over with, but instead it's getting the full recap treatment, with maximum SPOILERS. I may also spoil events in earlier Trek episodes, but nothing that came later.

Star Trek: Discovery 1-05: Choose Your Pain (Quick Review)

Episode:

5

|

Writer:

Kemp Powers

|

Air Date:

15-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm watching an episode of Discovery with a title that sounds like it should be a quote from a Mortal Kombat game.

This is one of my quick reviews, meaning that I'm writing it in a rush and I'm leaving out the scene-by-scene observations I usually do. There'll still be plenty of words though and many of them will be SPOILERS for this episode and earlier ones.

The Orville 1-06: Krill (Quick Review)

Episode:

6

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Writer:

David A. Goodman

|

Air Date:

12-Oct-2017

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures I've finally done it! I've finally reached an episode of The Orville not credited to Seth MacFarlane! Not that I had any problem with MacFarlane's episodes, it was just starting to seem like he'd written the whole series by himself.

This one's called Krill, which is at least one letter more than Pria, though it's still another tiny boring title. It's very disappointing when Star Trek: Discovery is pulling out names like The Butcher's Knife Cares Not for the Lamb's Cry and Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad. The Orville writers need to step up their game.

The writer responsible in this case seems to be David A. Goodman, who wrote the Star Trek episode of Futurama and four episodes of Enterprise, so his sci-fi credentials seem to be sound. The director on the other hand, Jon Cassar, has never worked on Star Trek... but he did direct 65 episodes of 24 (plus 24: Redemption). So I'm hoping for gritty, ultra-high stakes action taking place in real time across Los Angeles, and at least one helicopter. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was one of the most successful and beloved films in the franchise and it only had a helicopter on screen for like 30 seconds; imagine how well The Orville would do with a full minute or two.

Anyway, this is one of my quick reviews, so it's basically going to be a scruffy stream of thoughts and opinions without a recap. There will be SPOILERS though, for this episode and maybe earlier ones. Plus I'm throwing in a free bonus spoiler for you from the first few minutes of third season Next Gen episode, The Survivors. So look forward to that.