Star Trek: Picard 1-01: Remembrance (Quick Review)

Episode:

1

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Writer:

Akiva Goldsman and James Duff

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Air Date:

23-Feb-2020

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Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's a surprise review of Star Trek: Picard's first episode! Only a short one though. And rushed!

When Star Trek's 50th anniversary went by a few years ago I was a bit disappointed with how little fanfare there was, especially after all the love that Doctor Who got. They could've at least promoted Star Trek Beyond! But it's turned out that the 50th anniversary was the explosion that's created a million new TV series: Discovery, the Lower Decks cartoon, the Section 31 series, another cartoon, possible Pike and Starfleet Academy shows... and Picard. It's just been kind of a slow explosion.

Anyway, it's been two years, and we've finally got the second full-length Trek show of this era! The Deep Space Nine of its time, with any luck. Though it's been considerably longer than that since Picard himself made his first appearance back in Encounter at Farpoint, so I had to check if Patrick Stewart has broken any records here. Turns out he's played his character for a longer span than Shatner and Doohan now, despite their appearances in Star Trek: Generations, but he's 15 years short of beating that cameo in Star Trek Into Darkness.

What do I want from this episode? Well being better than Batman & Robin would be nice, but you never know with Akiva Goldsman writing. I also want it to continue the story of 24th century Trek without being all 'everything you know is wrong' or fan filmy about it. I'm pretty sure it's going to look slick at least, with Discovery director Hanelle Culpepper coming over to kick things off and establish the show's style, and I know for a fact there's at least one person in the writer's room who's actually seen Next Gen.

This is going to be one of those spoilery reviews so expect huge SPOILERS for this episode and maybe a couple of relevant Trek episodes that came before it. No recap this time though I'm afraid, as that takes ages and I'm in a hurry.

Babylon 5 3-15: Interludes and Examinations

Episode:

59

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

06-May-1996

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm sharing my thoughts on Babylon 5 season 3, episode 15: Interludes and Examinations. With a title like that, you can tell everything's about to kick off.

If you're wondering why the screencap is so fuzzy, it's because it's from a scene of the characters watching footage on a TV screen. Footage of fuzzy CGI.

Speaking of the characters watching TV, I should give you a SPOILER WARNING... about the DVDs. This episode features a commentary track with Bruce Boxleitner, Richard Biggs, Jerry Doyle, and Ed Wasser talking about the story together and they mention one thing in particular that you probably wouldn't want to know if you haven't seen the entire series. Just thought I'd give DVD owners a heads up about that.

Oh, also I'm going to spoil the hell out of this episode for you myself right now.

Babylon 5 3-14: Ship of Tears

Episode:

58

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

29-Apr-1996

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about Ship of Tears, the 14th episode of Babylon 5's third season. I've been watching a few episodes out of their broadcast order lately, but this one's right where it's supposed to be.

Sounds like a fun episode this one, judging by the title, but you never know with Babylon 5. The names are sometimes deliberately misleading to subvert expectations. And sometimes they're not.

I'll be recapping the whole story by the way, so there'll be tons of SPOILERS below. Though if you're watching through the series for the first time, you don't have to worry about me ruining what happens next, because my spoilers stop at this episode.

Babylon 5 3-12: Sic Transit Vir

Episode:

56

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

15-Apr-1996

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This is my 200th post on Sci-Fi Adventures, so to celebrate I'm writing about the next Babylon 5 episode: Sic Transit Vir!

Star Trek loves to throw in the occasional Latin title, like Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges or Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, but this is the first and only time it happened in Babylon 5. It's also the first of three occasions that a character's name appeared in a title, with Garibaldi and Londo getting their turn later. The title's a pun by the way, as it can mean both "thus passes the man" and "thus passes Vir". It's a step up from A Day in the Strife at least.

Additional trivia: this is one of five B5 episodes directed by Jesús Treviño, his second after Divided Loyalties. I think J. Michael Straczynski must have liked his work, as he's one of the elite few who got to direct a Babylon 5 movie (Thirdspace) and was invited back for the Crusade spin-off.

If you're wondering why I posted this after A Late Delivery From Avalon, it's because I'm still following the Lurker's Guide Master List, which makes this block of episodes look this:

11 - Ceremonies of Light and Dark
13 - A Late Delivery From Avalon
12 - Sic Transit Vir
14 - Ship of Tears
15 - Interludes and Examinations

This is relevant to you because I'm going to be giving SPOILERS for A Late Delivery in this review. I'm also going to be spoiling the hell out of Sic Transit Vir and some of the other episodes leading up to it.

Babylon 5 3-13: A Late Delivery from Avalon

Episode:

57

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

22-Apr-1996

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures I'm writing about A Late Delivery From Avalon, an episode of Babylon 5 that definitely isn't Grail, though it's easy to get the two of them mixed up due to their King Arthury titles.

There's definitely something wrong with that screencap up there isn't there? I've been looking at it wondering when Babylon 5 put on so much weight. The CGI for the series was rendered full frame and then cropped to widescreen for the DVD release, but I think they accidentally stretched it wider this time instead.

But one thing that wasn't a mistake, was Sic Transit Vir being aired in this episode's place during the original TV run. It was felt that they needed something lighter after all the tension of the last few stories and they wanted their big guest star on screen during the first week of sweeps, so they switched the stories around. But the Lurker's Guide Master List says I should watch this one first so that's what I'm doing.

It's been ages since I've had to do this, but here's the order I'm watching the episodes in:

10 - Severed Dreams
11 - Ceremonies of Light and Dark
13 - A Late Delivery From Avalon
12 - Sic Transit Vir
14 - Ship of Tears

All this really means to you is that I won't be spoiling Sic Transit Vir. There'll be a whole lot of SPOILERS for this episode though, and the stories leading up to it.

Babylon 5 3-11: Ceremonies of Light and Dark

Episode:

55

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

08-Apr-1996

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This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, the Babylon 5 continues with Ceremonies of Light and Dark. Sorry for the close up of the guy's fingernail up there, that's the image the episode chose to display its title over.

It's a pretty fitting title for a post published at Christmas though. I mean Christmas is a social or religious occasion that happens in the dark of winter that involves putting lights up, and participating in ritual acts such as giving gifts and eating too much. Not that the episode has anything to do with Christmas whatsoever, it originally aired in April, but it's still a bit of an occasion.

Babylon 5 has at least five TV movies, two spin-offs and whatever you'd call The Lost Tales, but if you just take the episodes on their own then this story is the halfway point of the Babylon 5 saga. We're halfway through the five year arc!

Which means this recap potentially contains SPOILERS for exactly half the series, including this episode. But if you're watching through the series for the first time you don't have to worry about me spoiling what happens in the other half.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Part 3

Today on Sci-Fi Adventures, it's the final part of my epic three-part Star Wars: The Force Awakens review! If you missed PART ONE or PART TWO, then click the text to jump right there.

It's not a coincidence that I'm writing about the movie now, just before The Rise of Skywalker comes out. I mean I started writing it ages ago, but I realised that this was the ideal deadline to hit. It probably would've made more sense to write about The Last Jedi, seeing as it's the film that actually leads into the new movie, and to be honest I think it'd be more interesting to examine, but I figured I should start at the beginning of the trilogy. This way I get to talk about whether Rey is a Mary Sue or not, and I bet you're dying to read another opinion about that on the internet.

This will contain SPOILERS for the movie, but you know that as I've said it twice already. I say it on all my reviews in fact, even though there's a spoiler warning in the side panel over on the right. Maybe I could change the colour of the warning text next week, add a bit of variety.