Sci-Fi Adventures Awards - Season Four (2019-20)

Surprise, it's the Ray Hardgrit's Sci-Fi Adventures Awards 2019 Season Four!

You might be thinking that I'm a month late with this, seeing as most people agree that 2019 ended a while back, but it occurred to me that I'm not judging the last year of sci-fi when I do my awards, I'm judging the sci-fi I've reviewed over the last year of my site. I start publishing reviews in April and finish in January, so the awards post should logically come at the end of January.

Plus I'm actually 13 months late, as I skipped the awards for 2018. I watched more than 600 episodes of Doctor Who over that summer (in addition to everything else I reviewed), and when it came time to think back over them all and hand out some awards my brain put up a little white flag and surrendered.

It seems like this year it should be a landslide in favour of Babylon 5, seeing as it's what I've been writing about each week (from season 2's Knives up to season 3's Walkabout), but I also threw in a few other reviews along the way. Like all of Discovery and The Orville's second seasons, the first four Short Trek's, Deep Space Nine's Rivals and the the first episode of Picard. I watched a pair of movies as well: Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Trek Into Darkness! Spoiler: the one that doesn't win Best Movie is going to win Worst Movie.

There's going to be lots of SPOILERS in fact, because that's sadly inevitable when you're giving out awards for 'Best death' and 'Most shocking twist'. No Picard spoilers though, as it's a bit too new. Plus I should remind you that all winners have been chosen by me, without a whole lot of thought, for purely subjective reasons, and shouldn't be taken seriously at all.

Babylon 5 3-18: Walkabout

Episode:

62

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Writer:

J. Michael Straczynski

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Air Date:

30-Sep-1996

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Hey, a shot looking straight down at Babylon 5 station, you don't see that often.

This week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about Walkabout, an episode of Babylon 5. In fact this is the last episode I'll be writing about for a while, as I'll be switching over to Super Adventures to play video games for a couple of months instead.

Because of scheduling weirdness this and the remaining four episodes in the season all aired earlier here in the UK than they did in the US, which is a rare and beautiful thing. In fact it was the last time it ever happened for Babylon 5. Though we still got them in the wrong order.

According to the airing and DVD order I should be watching War Without End right now, which is a huge two-parter I'm eager to get to. But Walkabout was originally supposed to be aired first and the season apparently works better if it's moved before it. At least according to the Lurker's Guide Master List, which has this block of episodes looking like this:

14 - Ship of Tears
15 - Interludes and Examinations
18 - Walkabout
16 - War Without End, Part 1
17 - War Without End, Part 2

So this review won't have any SPOILERS for War Without End, but I will be going through all of Walkabout scene by scene and I'll probably end up spoiling some of the episodes leading up to it as well.

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

|

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.