by Jane | Dec 15, 2015 | Write Here Write Now
Having finished watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and totally out of Star Trek to watch, I turned to Enterprise. I remembered not having been too impressed when it came on the air years ago, but I decided to give it another chance. I had heard that the last two seasons were good, and although that made me feel like I was eating my spinach in order to have ice cream later, I started watching.
Here are my impressions at the beginning. Let’s start with the theme. It was nice, but it didn’t really say Star Trek to me. Now, the characters. My favorite at that point was Porthos, Captain Archer’s dog. My second favorite was Trip, the Chief Engineer. I hated the Vulcan Science Officer T’Pol, as I guess we were supposed to, since she was at best, critical of whatever Captain Archer was doing, and at worst, a spy. That part was a little strange. However, during season one, she started to show some reluctant loyalty to Archer. The other characters were fine, though it seemed the actors would have to grow into their parts.
Halfway through the first season, the scripts started to get better. The crew of Enterprise was making its own path. I was concerned that the show seemed to lack Roddenberry’s brilliance and vision, but by the end of the season, the scripts were definitely better and the 2-part season ender/2nd season beginner was excellent. I started to change my mind about the show.
As Enterprise got into season 2, it became quite good. Trip surpassed Porthos as my favorite character and I started to like T’Pol. She became softer and more feminine and by then, was definitely part of Enterprise’s crew, not just a pawn of the Vulcan Council. The second season finale was even better than the first, so I am really looking forward to seasons three and four. I will report my experiences with them later.
For now I’ll just say, don’t write off Enterprise. You might be surprised.
by Jane | Nov 28, 2015 | Write Here Write Now
The Crimson Crown is the fourth and final book in Cinda Williams Chima’s Seven Realms series. If I were to meet her, I’d ask how she manages to maintain interest throughout each book. To say this is a page-turner would be a disservice. I am compelled to keep reading, chapter after chapter.
In The Crimson Crown, Raisa is crowned queen and Han Allister dances the Demon King role at the ceremony, much to everyone’s surprise. Things are, of course, not wine and roses for these two. Han is suspected of a series of wizard killings, Micah Bayar insists on dating Raisa, and the war raging in the south is starting to threaten Raisa’s queendom. Meanwhile, Raisa has named Han to the Wizard Council, which the wizards, currently led by Gavan Bayar, do not like at all.
Both Raisa and Han have big plans. Unfortunately, neither is sure that their plans jibe with the other’s because of talk they are hearing around the castle and village. Who are they to believe? And how can they handle the political situation without getting themselves, and those they love, killed?
Chima does a grand job of keeping us in suspense throughout, but with each revelation comes another surprise. You cannot be disappointed with this book and the culmination of this series. I’m just sad it’s over.
by Jane | Nov 11, 2015 | Write Here Write Now
I reported on the book The Martian some months ago and said how much I liked it, especially for the science parts where astronaut Mark Whatley was describing the thought processes he went through to find a way to live a little longer. This is part of what made the book great. But you can’t do that in a movie.
Had the producers of the movie tried to put in even half of the science behind what Whatley was doing, the movie would have been dull and put everyone to sleep. Even the little bit they did put in could easily make people’s eyes glaze over.
But that’s OK. The movie The Martian didn’t need it to be good. I was curious how a movie based largely on astronaut Whatley’s notes and videos would translate to the big screen. But translate it did. By skipping over the slower, science parts and accentuating the action and dramatic parts, director Ridley Scott made a great film.
Scott also did a great job moving between the action on Mars and the action on Earth, showing the viewers just what they needed to see to keep them interested. Although Mark’s science explanations were limited in the movie, the movie retained his sense of humor (well played by actor Matt Damon), which was also a big part of the book.
The movie was true to the book in most ways. There was only one catastrophe they left out, near the time when the astronaut was approaching the site for his lift-off. I agreed with that decision. Another catastrophe would have been too much and actually slowed down the film. It needed to keep moving along at that point to get to the climax.
The climax was, of course, Whatley’s flight into space to meet with the ship to take him back home. It was, arguably, the best scene in the film. Action that I had a hard time picturing while reading the book came through magnificently on the screen (especially in 3D). Even though I knew how it ended, it was exciting, suspenseful, and ultimately, satisfying. I also applaud the ending of the movie, which made it clear what happened to all the major characters.
I highly recommend the film the way I highly recommended the book. In spite of their differences, science fiction fans will enjoy both.
by Jane | Nov 8, 2015 | Write Here Write Now
On July 25, 2014, I published a post on Captain Janeway’s use of discipline on Voyager. At the time, I said I thought she had dealt out more discipline than any other starship captain. I’ve since had the opportunity to rewatch Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I have more details to add on that topic.
Janeway’s harshest use of discipline was with Tom Paris when he disobeyed orders. She demoted him and sentenced him to a month in the brig. As I rewatched TNG, I wanted to see if any crew member of the Enterprise D had disobeyed orders and Picard’s response. I found several.
Although not actually disobeying a direct order, Worf got a reprimand for a ritual Klingon killing when he killed the man who had killed his mate. I guess Picard was caught between Star Fleet regulations and Klingon law. So, Worf got merely a reprimand. I’m not sure how it was entered into his record. Conduct unbecoming an officer?
But there were several acts of disobedience during the seven-year run of TNG. As a matter of fact, I think the only senior officer who never disobeyed Picard was Riker. So, let’s explore this. Data disobeyed orders twice — once when he was in command of a vessel in a fleet commanded by Picard. Picard ordered him to leave the area, but Data stayed to institute a plan of his. The plan worked, and Star Fleet was saved. So, the ends justifies the means?
The second time Data disobeyed orders was when a newly-discovered life form was causing a danger to the Enterprise. Since he could not prove his belief that they were sentient, Data was ordered to destroy them. He did not. Later, he proved they were sentient and vindicated himself. In neither instance was he punished. Picard might have been facing a difficult dilemma of how to best discipline an android, similar to Janeway not knowing how to discipline Seven of Nine. Still, if an officer twice disobeys his captain, no matter the reason, some action seems appropriate.
Next, we have Beverly Crusher. During an investigation onboard Enterprise, she performed an unauthorized autopsy. Not only had she not received permission, but she was told by Picard expressly not to do it. She did it anyway, and a board of inquiry was formed on the planet of the deceased. Picard, however, did nothing. He supported her. Later, Beverly was vindicated and the inquiry was dropped. Now, we all know that Picard and Crusher are friends, bordering on more than friends, but is that a reason to overlook insubordination?
Finally, Geordie LaForge disobeyed orders to try and rescue his mother, who he believed was being held captive on a nearby planet. No one believed him, and Picard ordered him not to leave the ship. LaForge did it anyway. He rescued his mother and some others, so he was vindicated. Picard wrote him up.
So, let’s summarize. Worf gets a reprimand for killing a man, and LaForge gets written up for disobeying orders for a good cause. In the meantime, Data disobeys orders twice and Crusher once, both for good reasons, and neither of them is disciplined. Favoritism?
For comparison, on Voyager, Chakotay, Paris, Seven of Nine, and Kim all disobeyed orders at one time or another. They were put on report, confined to quarters, received official reprimands, or occasionally, forgiven. Except of course, for Tim Paris. And let’s not forget Neelix. He consorted with criminals and just got a few hours cleaning manifolds.
So, what is this with Paris? Is he just the unluckiest officer to ever serve on a starship, or did Janeway have it in for him? And why was Picard so lenient compared to Janeway? Was it his age and experience? Did he think he had enough respect from his crew that he could overlook major issues of insubordination? Or was Janeway too quick on the trigger?
I’ve never served in the military, but from what I know of it, I doubt commanding officers are so quick to forgive officers who disobey orders. So Janeway may be the better disciplinarian. In most cases, she took action. But I still have to wonder.
What did she have against Tom Paris?
by Jane | Oct 31, 2015 | Write Here Write Now
Near the beginning of the summer, I wrote about some “new” shows I was watching and trying to like, and about other shows coming back for their summer runs. (For review, see that blog here.)The shows I was streaming were Sense 8 and Between. I finished watching the available episodes of Between and enjoyed them. It wasn’t a great show, but it was passable. The show has been renewed and Netflix will release new episodes in 2016. In lieu of anything better in the genre, I will watch it.
As to Sense 8, I watched a couple more episodes, but nothing changed for me. I still find it confusing and unsatisfying. I believe that it is not only hard to keep so many different stories straight, it is difficult to develop any one story in the time allotted. It would have been better if they had brought more of the protagonists together earlier, so it doesn’t seem like so many different story lines. The 4400, for example, had a lot of characters, but the producers did a better job of connecting them all.
Now, to the summer shows. The first is Falling Skies. Its last season is progressing well. The 2nd Mass has had its victories and set-backs, but keeps plodding along. Though I’ll miss the show, I’m looking forward to the finale and see how everything is resolved.
But my top pick is The Last Ship. There is action and excitement every episode, so much that you can expect to be exhausted by the time the credits roll. The show is also not stretching my disbelief as they did in last season’s finale. At first, I had a little trouble understanding the primary antagonist, who was actually trying to prevent the distribution of the cure, but that has become clearer as the season progressed. Sometimes the twists and turns have me saying, “What, again?”, but, on the other hand, they make for excellent suspense and tension. I’m also happy that there is some general resolution of plot in each episode before the final cliffhanger. If you haven’t seen The Last Ship, you’re really missing something good. I’ll be sorry when its season finale airs and I have to wait nine months to see new episodes.
Happy watching!
