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Star Trek: Dagger of the Mind (1966)
Dr. Helen Noel is extremely qualified as an expert in psychiatry: She wears a short skirt and tights
This episode started surprisingly well, with Kirk uncovering dubious medical experiments in a penal colony. Unfortunately, the episode then loses its momentum due to the typical TOS facepalm moments and the portrayal of the female crew members of the Enterprise.
What normal person, let alone a starship captain, would put themselves under an unknown machine to test its effects on the human psyche? Especially after a patient who was apparently treated with this machine appears to be quite mentally disturbed and is currently being treated by Bones? The most logical consequence would have been to bring in Scotty or someone else from engineering to take this machine apart and analyze it in detail to find out what exactly its purpose is and how it works.
And then Dr. Helen Noel. Supposedly an expert in the field of psychiatric forensics. That would have been a good moment to recognize the expertise of a woman. But we all know that women in TOS don't appear in episodes because of their expertise, but because of their short skirts and pointy breasts. Of course, there is a romantic backstory between Kirk and Noel that overshadows the actual investigation of the events in the penal colony. Also, Dr. Noel has nothing else to contribute other than to point out again and again that all the instruments and all the treatments carried out there are perfectly fine and there is nothing to worry about - despite the fact that she did not carry out any examinations herself, did not even speak to the doctor or patients for five minutes, and did not look at any medical records. But at least her skirt is extra short. After all, that should be enough of a qualification for a woman to be able to take up service on this Enterprise...
Knuckles (2024)
Bowling for Wade and a bit of screentime for his sidekick Knuckles
This miniseries is actually quite entertaining and funny - especially the interaction between the two agents is hilarious. The series initially seems like a typical buddy comedy, in the style of Dumb and Dumber, The Heat, Hot Fuzz or other films of this kind. Especially in episodes 1-3 you get the feeling that the duo Knuckles/Wade are coming together to pursue a common goal. Wade is the slacker and Knuckles is the tough one who tries to teach him the importance of competition and warrior honor.
But as many commentators have already noted: In a series about Knuckles, Knuckles actually has very little screen time and becomes a mere sidekick to Wade - especially in episodes 4-6. Actually, it's a series about Wade Whipple and not about Knuckles. The focus is on Wade's daddy issues and a bowling tournament with which Wade wants to prove himself to his father. In addition, a forgettable villain and his henchmen hunt Knuckles to seize his power for something he wants to sell - basically, the motivation plays no role at all. The two storylines are pretty disconnected from each other and you get the feeling that you are actually watching two series. A quite extensive one about Wade and a very short one about Knuckles. At the end, for example, Knuckles sits in his hotel room most of the time and is not seen. Maybe they wanted to save on expensive CGI animations.
I would have expected more of a student vs mentor thing from this series. Funnily enough, a scene from Karate Kid is shown in the opening credits. But that is exactly what is missing from the series. Apart from a bit of pep talk, there is no training at all. Knuckles has nothing to do with the actual bowling tournament. He does not take part in it, and Knuckles does not get Wade physically fit either. He does not even sit in the audience.
The ending is also pretty rushed. The villain is defeated and that's it. What Knuckles does after that remains unclear. Is he now part of the Whipple family? What happened to Wade? What happened to the two agents who are now stranded on the mushroom planet?
Also annoying: the omnipresent product placements. From Doritos to Lays, Spotify or ESPN... Speaking of ESPN: The two sports commentators are hilarious. "Reno, the Las Vegas for losers".
Star Trek: Miri (1966)
Hey, this planet is an exact duplicate of Earth - but let's forget that fact for the rest of the episode, shall we?
Is it bad casting or is this leader of the kids just a late bloomer and despite being almost 30 years old, still not in puberty? And the actress who played Miri was already over 20 when the episode was filmed. I mean, people generally looked older than they were back then, but a little more realism in the portrayal of children would have been appropriate.
Yeoman Rand is once again reduced to her feminine charms ("Look at my legs"), but for a change she is not the lightning rod of male lust in this episode. Instead, Kirk hits on an underage girl, which apparently didn't ring any alarm bells at the time when the episode was aired on TV. And the only thing Kirk can think of to cheer up a GIRL and make her feel safe is to tell her how beautiful she looks. There is just so much wrong in this episode on so many levels...
And I can't help it, but Bones seems to me to be the worst doctor in the history of Star Trek. They meet a humanoid, human-like being who appears to be seriously ill and in pain. And Bones? Does nothing. Doesn't give him any medicine, no sedatives, doesn't talk to the man, doesn't examine him. And of course this person then dies. And when the crew meets Miri, who seems frightened and who could also be ill, Bones does nothing again. He doesn't talk to her in a calming way, doesn't examine her, or give her a mild sedative. As a crew member of the Enterprise, you can only hope never to get sick when Dr. Evil is on duty.
And since TOS is not short of facepalm moments, there are of course plenty of them in this episode too:
Millions of children would have to live on such a planet - if the virus has even spread globally. How many teachers and doctors does Starfleet want to send to the planet for all these children?
The kids have survived on this planet for 300 years and apparently had enough food, water and clothing (after all, everything seems to be in top condition - there isn't even garbage piling up on the streets after 300 years). But just as the Enterprise arrives, the food supplies are almost used up. What a coincidence. And what about the kids in the next town 50 miles away? What about their food supplies?
And then the scene with the communicators. All four of them leave their devices unattended on the table, knowing very well how important they are for their mission. Ouch.
Star Trek: Mudd's Women (1966)
Space pimping is OK, but flying without a flight plan will land you straight in prison
After watching all the other Star Trek series within a year, I've now landed on TOS. And when I watch those episodes, I really wonder how this series managed to build up such a huge fan base and became what it is today. This omnipresent objectification of women, the macho behavior of the men, this ridiculous 1960s style of the sets and wardrobe and this yawning boredom in every scene. So far, I've never had the feeling in any of the TOS episodes that there is any kind of hectic activity on the ship. Everyone is always pretty relaxed and takes their time to do their jobs. In addition, new people are constantly appearing on the bridge, so you can't relate to the characters. And the uniforms are probably more of a fashion accessory than a sign of rank and section. Uhura wears a red uniform, then a yellow one, and Kirk switches between yellow and green almost every five minutes.
So, here we have him: Harry Mudd. A con artist who we will meet again in later series. In this episode, however, he is just a sleazy space pimp. And Kirk and his crew apparently have no problem with the fact that his business is about "selling" a few pretty women to lonely settlers or dilithium miners. Kirk is more concerned about Mudd flying through the vastness of space without a flight plan or license. Where is the intergalactic flight control when a flight plan is suddenly needed? Picard, Archer and Janeway never checked whether all the villains who appeared on their sensors had a flight plan.
And once again, women in TOS are portrayed as pure, cheap sex objects whose only goal is to please men, cook them food and do the dishes. The moral message of this episode is: ugly women are undesirable for men, the only thing that counts is looks and sex appeal. And the undersexed male crew of the Enterprise can't pull themselves together again when three women come on board (at least Janice Rand gets a breather in this episode and is, for a change, this time not the target of sexual harassment from the crew). Bones and Scotty react like two pubescent teenagers holding a pin-up magazine in their hands for the first time. Their hormones are surging and the sight of the women drives them so crazy that they are barely able to do their work. Just like the rest of the crew. The TOS crew may be the exact opposite of the DIS crew, but they are just as incompetent and a disgrace to Starfleet.
And the three women's only goal seems to be to throw themselves at the first dirty, old hillbilly miner they find, and then get groped and humiliated by them. And this one bald-headed grump also makes demands on his future wife. He himself looks like a total bum, but the women have to be flawless and beautiful. I was actually waiting for a moral reversal at the end. That the randy old devil realizes that looks aren't everything and that he sees the real woman behind the beautiful facade. But this would be too much to ask for in a TOS episode. Of course, he only cares about looks. Gee! And in the end, despite the placebo, the woman turns back into an irresistible vamp - giving this lecher exactly what he wants: a beautiful shell that sweetens his lonely nights on this backwater planet. Nothing else.
All the feminists of our day who still think that nothing has changed for women in western societies should really watch a few episodes of TOS. We've come a long way!
Star Trek: The Enemy Within (1966)
Yeoman Rand has the most thankless role in all Star Trek series
The 1960s - a decade that all randy old devils look back on with great pleasure. A decade in which women were nothing more than welcome objects that men could use to make sexist remarks and that could be groped at any time.
And Janice Rand is the unfortunate female victim in nearly every episode, always the target of sexual innuendo or even sexual assault from her male colleagues. This poor woman. The fact that something like that was accepted and seen as "normal" even back then is simply incomprehensible from today's perspective. Yeoman Rand is almost raped by Kirk's doppelganger and only barely manages to free herself from his clutches, but doesn't even see herself as the victim. Since Kirk is captain, she wouldn't have even reported this behavior. Wow.
The story of split personalities isn't bad, but due to the typical dull TOS narration and over- and underacting, there is once again no tension at the end. I'm always fascinated by how relaxed everyone on this Enterprise is. Some crew members are stuck on a planet and are about to freeze to death and Scotty (who has a really greasy hairstyle this season - as if he had smeared a pound of butter in his hair) is standing ALONE in the transporter room, chilling, telling Kirk that they're doing EVERYTHING they can! Oh yeah? Him alone and who else? Scotty doesn't look very stressed or that he's giving it all he's got here.
And then those facepalm scenes in every TOS episode: Scotty clearly shows that the transporter malfunctioned and has duplicated a unicorn dog. When rumors start to circulate that an out-of-control Kirk is causing trouble on the ship, none of those involved even think that maybe something went wrong with Kirk's last transport from the planet, too! Or when the crew is supposed to track down the wrong Kirk. What if good old Kirk had said in his speech to the crew that he himself would stay on the bridge, meaning that any Kirk anywhere else on the ship would definitely be the impostor they're looking for?
Star Trek: Discovery: Mirrors (2024)
If love is in the air and an away mission is to spare - who ya gonna call? Michael Burnham!
Imagine if your own intelligence services had tracked down an incredibly powerful alien technology. A technology that could both create and destroy life and thus be an all-powerful weapon in the wrong hands. A weapon that could turn the civilization of an entire planet to dust, perhaps push entire species to the brink of extinction and forever change the balance of power in the galaxy in favor of expansive new alliances. The United Federation of Planets could hardly do anything to counter such a new opponent, they could only watch helplessly as they would slowly but surely fall apart. Starfleet would be doomed. The long-standing peace between many species would give way to war, death and destruction. Breen, Klingons, Romulans or even the Borg... whoever manages to hold this weapon in their blood-stained hands in the end will rule the galaxy. And in all probability not with moral superiority but with the iron fist of oppression.
And what would you do if you, as the United Federation of Planets, had allies on your side, with billions and billions of living beings on countless planets? Send out an armada of warships to find the weapon? Send agents in all directions to follow the clues? Gather the best archaeologists, cryptologists, mathematicians, physicists, xenobiologists and whoever else with a lot of book knowledge to decipher all the puzzles? Of course not! You would of course only send out ONE ship. And of course it would be the loveboat of the fleet. And you wouldn't send trained soldiers after the two criminals who always seem to be one step ahead. No, you would put the fate of the galaxy in the hands of a whiny captain and her ex-lover - who isn't even a Starfleet officer!
When I watched this episode, I wondered what happened to Star Trek when the word "love" appeared more often in an episode than the words "calibrate," "scan," "warp," or "Jefferies tube." Even though the ship only has minutes left before it implodes, there seems to be enough time to talk about dead fathers, true love, and self-sacrifice for one's loved ones.
Otherwise, the episode is once again a copy of the worst aspects of DIS: People just do their damn job and are then praised in front of the whole crew (woohoo great job!). Adira stutters something that no one cares about. Stamets tries to seem smart by spouting technobabble, but again just comes across as a pompous, self-absorbed loudmouth. And Tilly drinks cocktails again and sinks into fake emotionality as she offers her fat shoulders for her gay friend to cry on.
And even a Star Trek noob could have predicted at the end of the second episode that L'ak is Breen. Surprise, surprise! And let's use some CGI on their faces, which, while pointless, at least justifies the production cost of this episode in which nothing really happens. By the way: In the last episode, our two criminal lovers cold-bloodedly poisoned a guy. But hey, everyone makes mistakes. No reason not to treat them like two lovers who just want to be together and who need a few tearful speeches from Burnham and Book for emotional support und guidance.
Star Trek: Charlie X (1966)
Creepy McWeirdo stalks yeoman Rand
This Charlie guy really gave me the creep. Those strange piercing eyes and then the aggressive manner towards yeoman Rand. In general, it seems the only reason women exist in TOS is to sexually objectify them. One would actually have thought that Roddenberry would have wanted to portray a different image of women in a distant future. A crew on a spaceship where men and women work together as equals. But somehow in TOS you only see the typical 1960s women with towering hairstyles and short skirts who are supposed to do one thing above all: look good and give men the opportunity to throw a few sexist innuendos at them...
Even if film technology was not yet fully developed in the 1960s, they should at least have paid attention to continuity. Kirk gets into the turbolift wearing a yellow sweater, only to get out on the bridge 2 seconds later wearing a green sweater. Why does he have green sweaters anyway? Or the scene in the gym. Room bright as day but when the close-up falls on Charlie and then on Kirk everything appears dark and gloomy except for the light that is directed at their eyes. Speaking of the gym - the numerous women on board the Enterprise seem to spend their free time doing cartwheels. Or alternatively with singing and playing cards. The future hasn't really arrived at TOS yet.
Luckily, these incorporeal beings ended up taking Charlie back with them. With his "you're all so mean to me" attitude, sooner or later he would have sent everyone in the colony to Nirvana or alternatively somewhere in subspace. Although Kirk asks if there isn't another way, it doesn't occur to him to ask these aliens if they could just take Charlie's powers away. After all, they gave them to him in the first place.
By the way, Kirk seems to be pretty relaxed anyway. A crew member disappears from the gym in front of his eyes and he stands there pretty unimpressed and doesn't directly ask what Charlie did to him or whether he's still alive. Any other person would probably have been frightened and then immediately slapped Charlie and shouted at him to bring the crew member back.
Star Trek: The Cage (1966)
Captain Pike doesn't like women on the bridge
It's always difficult to compare films and series from another era with those of today. In the 1960s, cinematic storytelling was slower, there were fewer cuts, and the dialogue and close-ups were much longer. In addition, film technology was still in its infancy and the effects look correspondingly weak. Likewise, films are always a reflection of the time in which they were made: from the costumes, to the set design or the film music, to the representation of social norms and values (which is why we are bombarded with diversity and gender ideology in DIS).
However, one should think that in a science fiction series the impossible is also imagined and things are shown that deliberately deviate from the social and technical standards of the time. Pike, on the other hand, is the typical macho man of the 1960s with a sexist image of women. He prefers not to see any women on the bridge and treats the female crew members - including his Number One - quite condescendingly. Even if this may reflect the typical image of women at the time, one could have expected more from a science fiction series. As was repeatedly emphasized in the later series, how morally elevated people are now and how prejudices and inequality no longer exist.
Likewise, one might expect from a science fiction series that the set and costume designers would be inspired by a distant future and try out new things. Instead, the furniture on the Enterprise looks 1960s, as do the uniforms and hairstyles. And one could have predicted that in the future we might no longer use paper but instead use portable computers and that no one would run around with clipboards anymore.
By the way, Number One was rejected by the TV station. She seemed too cold and emotionless. Something that didn't fit the image of women in the 1960s. These character traits were then attributed to Spock. So much for the topic of "science fiction" - where women cannot even be portrayed as emancipated and tough but still have to correspond to the traditional image of women from the post-war era. Like this submissive ensign, whose job is just to look good on screen and is constantly pushed aside in a sexist manner by Pike.
The story is also rather poor: an intelligent species that runs a menagerie with all kinds of aliens in order to feast on their dreams and fantasies. In the end, everything comes down to the fact that they now need a human man to complement the human woman they already have in their roster, so that the reproduction of the human species in their zoo is ensured. It could have been a little more science fiction than that. Even in the 1960s. No wonder this episode was rejected and Pike was sent into retirement. That Pike had the charm of a rough block of wood.
Enterprise: These Are the Voyages... (2005)
Too many chefs spoil the plomeek broth - so Riker get your ass off the NX-01!
What the hell was that? What were the showrunners thinking by choosing such an episode to end the series, in which the main characters aren't even the protagonists of their own series? Basically, everything had already been told with the episode "Terra Prime" and it also marked a worthy conclusion to the series while at the same time igniting the spark of hope for a newly emerging federation of once enemy species.
Tucker's death is also completely unnecessary. The death of a main character can often be a new beginning or take the rest of the story in a new direction. But then you have to let that character die while the series is still running and not in the last episode! What impact does Tucker's death have on anything now? And then such a pointless death for such an uninteresting subplot. There were far better moments during the series where Tucker's death would have had some kind of impact - on T'Pol or generally on the direction the series could have taken afterwards. Basically, they also could have let him fall off the ladder while cleaning the house - breaking his neck - that would have been an equally meaningless death.
And this whole Shran story with his faked death, the kidnapped child... as if the writers wanted to pack as much information as possible into the last episode. Because they forgot to tell anything about Shran in the previous episode.
Also, Travis and Hoshi are still ensigns even after 10 years of service. Amazing. Mirror universe Hoshi apparently made a better cut. She seems to have been well on her way to seizing the throne as Empress. Apparently in the "good" universe you don't get another simple pip after 10 years of hardship and loyal service to Starfleet. Not even after countless life-threatening missions and after saving the Earth and with it all of humanity from total annihilation by the Xindi. "Come and see the stars. Join Starfleet! Become an ensign. And remain ensign forever!"
You can safely forget this episode and instead celebrate the previous episode as the actual conclusion of the series.
Enterprise: Terra Prime (2005)
Clap louder - that's an order!
This double episode is a worthy conclusion to this rather average series. And it also marks the birth of the United Federation of Planets.
The actual events in this episode are rather lame though. The mining facility's weapon is so powerful, you have to wonder why you've never seen anything like it on Starfleet ships before. The whole story about the cloned baby hybrid of human and Vulcan DNA didn't convince me at all either. Firstly, with just one cloned baby you would hardly be able to gain supporters for your racial madness - the current "threat" to people on Earth still seems far too small to me at this point. Apparently it is not the case that Earth is overpopulated by aliens, that humans can no longer find jobs or apartments and that crime and violence have increased (all reasons for comparable arguments in our day when it comes to immigrants). Secondly, this whole exaggerated emotional attachment of Trip and T'Pol to this baby is a bit far-fetched. Yes, the baby is genetically their offspring. But it's also a test-tube baby, a pure clone. From stolen DNA. This emotional connection that they both portray in the episode doesn't seem authentic. T'Pol was neither pregnant with the baby nor was it taken from both of them at an early stage. There wasn't even an act of conception.
And also: Why did this insane human supremacy supporter need DNA from T'Pol and Trip to create a clone? He could have taken any Vulcan or human and created a clone from their DNA. Maybe even an Andorian and a human to make the result even more vivid. Ultimately, it was all about presenting an alleged abomination to his followers in order to further incite their racial madness and stir up hatred and violence.
Mayweather also proves once again in this double episode that he is a really bad actor and was just an extra in the entire series anyway. And this unsympathetic reporter/agent then added fuel to the fire and completely ruined the already boring scenes with him.
This episode also once again shows that the concept of a phaser set to stun is still not understood. With a weapon that doesn't kill or cause injury, you can basically just shoot away. So why do Archer and the others storm the command center of that mining facility and not just take out everyone they find there - no questions asked. Instead, the villain is of course spared and has time to strike back. Typical Star Trek!
And why is Hoshi still an ensign? After all these years and even saving Earth from annihilation, a promotion would have been absolutely necessary. What do you actually have to do in Starfleet to become a lieutenant or commander when apparently even preventing the destruction of Earth doesn't qualify?
Star Trek: Discovery: Face the Strange (2024)
Poor Rayner gets a few extra lessons in friendship, empathy and pep talks
Well, at least the science part of the fiction is finally starting to take shape. Although the story of timeline-twisting spiders is pretty far-fetched and Stamet's exposition orgies still have nothing to do with the technobabble of the other Star Trek series. With Stamets, every scientific and technological problem somehow always sounds like magic (probably because he was exposed to the magic mushrooms in engineering for too long). Can't they just synchronize the transporter's annular confinement beam to the warp core frequency in order to polarize the chroniton particles in the ship's hull into a higher state of temporal flux? That would do the trick just as well. And it would sound more like Star Trek.
The episode reminds me of the VOY episode "Shattered". Here, too, various events take place on board the ship, each in a different timeline. Chakotay, like Burnham in this episode, tries to unravel the timelines with the help of his comrades in order to get back to his own time. However, I gave this VOY episode a rating of eight stars. In my opinion, "Face the Strange" doesn't deserve more than five stars, even with a lot of goodwill.
Unfortunately, this episode is also dragged down into the typical DIS sentimentality by the omnipresent "We are family" mood. In the end, our three Starfleet officers do not free themselves from this unfortunate time loop through technology, logic, professionalism, prudence and their training and experience. No, the solution to the riddle is once again the crew's unshakable friendship, the connection to each other, the long and never-ending speeches with tears in their eyes in front of the entire crew and the mutual pats on the back. However, all this talk about friendship and connection doesn't convince me. In Star Trek "The Michael Burnham Show" (aka "Discovery") everything begins and ends with Michael Burnham. While in the other series all senior officers were their own stars in individual episodes - from B'Elanna Torres to Beverly Crusher, Julian Bashir, Malcolm Reed or La'An Noonien-Singh - the Michael Burnham Show is all about Michael Burnham. Characters like Keyla Detmer, Gen Rhys or Linus (I even had to google their names) are nothing more than garnish. Where is this much-vaunted friendship when there is virtually no interaction between these extras and the main characters? They didn't even make it onto the cover shot.
And of course Rayner learns his lesson again and from now on will organize game nights in order to finally get to know the crew better. After all, his "Don't shoot, we're the good guys" persuasive speech almost fell flat due to all too superficial facts about his comrades and far too few tears in his eyes. He was barely able to stop short-haired Burnham from shooting him point blank with her phaser. After a few rounds of Truth or Dare, I'm sure he'll know Burnham a lot better. Poor Rayner. The only reason he's included in season five is to constantly show him off as a dull, emotionless loner who is then taught a lesson in friendship, companionship and feelings by Burnham, Tilly, or one of the other preachers aboard Discovery. Why Burnham made him her new Number One remains a mystery. She makes it abundantly clear that everyone has to play by the crew's rules and Rayner's way of doing things won't be accepted. He is nothing more than a useful idiot who is always reprimanded at the end with "I told you so" phrases.
Enterprise: In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II (2005)
Belly top uniforms are apparently fashionable on board the warships of the Terran Empire
The first episode of this double episode started promisingly. Once again an adventure in the mirror universe and once again the characters are a vile copy of their morally exalted counterparts on the other side.
In the second episode, everyone in the crew seems to be scheming and revolting against everyone else in order to ultimately become the new Emperor - and only through ONE captured ship from the other universe, whose technology is 100 years more advanced than what the Terran Empire has to offer. Doesn't seem like a strong empire if it can be brought to its knees by a single ship.
Archer seems quite inauthentic as a domineering wannabe captain and megalomaniacal usurper of the throne. Although Hoshi makes quite a convincing impression as a concubine, the end of the episode seems rather far-fetched. By the way, whoever came up with the idea that the uniforms for women in the mirror universe should be belly tops probably has no idea what purpose a uniform should serve. Speaking of uniforms: Why does the crew dress in the uniforms of the captured ship's crew? It's one thing that Archer puts on the green sweater for fun, but why do everyone else change their uniforms? What was the point of this action, other than fan service? By the way: What was the point of this double episode in the first place? In the other series there was at least always a connection between the characters on both sides.
The Gorn in this episode - oh my goodness. They have the charm of the old Japanese Godzilla films. Although in this episode these Gorn at least look humanoid enough to believably convey that this species can build and fly spaceships. In SNW, the Gorn seem more like the creatures from the Alien films - savage beasts with claws that could barely press a button on a control panel. Let alone have a progressive social structure.
Enterprise: Bound (2005)
The women are greener on the other side
Ah, the early years in the Star Trek universe. When the aliens had different colored skin. Blue like the Andorians or green like the Orions. And as always, the Orion women are particularly highlighted - as you could also see in the Kelvin timeline movies. There seems to be a certain attraction to looking at half-naked green women.
This episode shows in a way that shouldn't be taken entirely seriously who is in charge at the Orions: it's the women and not the men. With their beguiling pheromones, Orion females seem to easily wrap pretty much any male creature around their fingers. This episode shows this uncontrollable attraction better than the LD episode "Something Borrowed, Something Green". There men are just cheap pleasure slaves. In this episode, however, the men are often simply not in control of their emotions and are actually manipulated into following the Orion women's wishes. Basically it's not particularly different from the behavior that men already exhibit - after all, it's often enough for women to dress skimpily to drive men crazy.
But once again one has to doubt Archer's suitability as captain. Although he is aware of the beguiling manipulation effect of the Orion females, he has them guarded by MEN! And of course the three girls manage to get these men to release them with a snap of their fingers. Why didn't he assign female crew members? Apart from a bit of a headache, the effect of their pheromones on other women doesn't seem to have any disadvantages. There are enough women on the ship. Also among the MACOs (speaking of which, what happened to Amanda Cole, who was never seen again?). Or when Archer realizes that he too can't resist the influence of the Orion women: he basically had to hand over his command to T'Pol since she showed no signs of being manipulated. Instead, Archer risks making the wrong decisions as captain in a state of sexual delusion for no reason!
Enterprise: The Aenar (2005)
Archer and Shran once again fight for interplanetary peace
This episode forms the conclusion of another trilogy as part of the fourth season - individual episodes in the style of "Alien of the week" are rather rare in the final season. As we know, it didn't help in the end. This series, unlike its predecessors from the 1990s, did not make it to seven seasons.
The Romulans try to sow discord between Andorians, Tellarites and humans with false flag actions. But Archer and Shran get on the trail of this plot and in the end we see the first steps towards building a federation of planets: the first alliances between these species as a bulwark against enemies from outside.
It has now become an unwritten law at ENT that once again Shran is not far when Andoria is involved. Apparently the Imperial Guard only consists of a handful of members. Would fit the ice planet Andoria, which doesn't exactly show many signs of a technologically advanced civilization or looks like a densely populated planet. The way alien civilizations are portrayed in Star Trek is often quite ridiculous. For example, Shran says that the Aenar subspecies was discovered on his planet only 50 years ago. That sounds pretty unimaginable. A civilization that has reached a certain level of development would not only have explored every last corner of its own planet, but would also have technologies such as satellites or sensor networks to detect any anomalies. The fact that an intelligent, humanoid and developed species that also builds its own cities (and requires resources for this) has only recently been discovered, even though the Andorians have been building warp-capable spaceships for a long time, is a typically romanticized storytelling in the Star Trek universe.
Otherwise, this episode gives you a good insight into the lives of Andorians and the Aenar. With Hemmer, an Aenar is later even part of the Enterprise crew.
Enterprise: Observer Effect (2005)
To interfere or not to interfere, that is the question
A pretty clever episode about two highly developed incorporeal beings who take over the bodies of various crew members to observe how the humans aboard the Enterprise make decisions and respond to a deadly threat from an alien virus. However, the episode would have benefited from a bit of CGI to at least visualize them jumping from one body to the next.
Unfortunately, a lot of the tension is once again lost because it's clear at the end that neither Trip nor Hoshi will die from the virus. In fact, both are brought back from the dead as if nothing had happened. The actual message loses its significance through this resurrection: Just like with the Prime Directive, these incorporeal beings also act according to a protocol of not interfering in the development of other species. But they have now broken their own doctrine - even though the show is halfway through the fifth and final season. One of the two characters could have died to give the episode some meaning.
But in Happy End Star Trek the motto is: If you interfere in the development of other species with the best of intentions, then it's somehow okay.
Enterprise: Daedalus (2005)
And the award for worst captain in Star Trek history goes to *drumroll* ... Jonathan Archer
In this episode, Archer once again clearly demonstrates why he was given the unofficial title of "Worst captain in Star Trek History." And that's saying something, since Michael Burnham, another aspirant, is fighting tirelessly for this title and, with season 5 of DIS, is well on the way to dethroning the previously undisputed champion of this dishonorable award.
When the experiment of an aging scientist driven by selfish delusion, arrogance and self-importance goes awry and costs the life of a crew member, Archer seems little emotionally affected. Even when he learns that this entire experiment is based on a lie and that the crew of the Enterprise was assigned to this mission under false pretenses, Archer does not immediately abort the mission. He doesn't report the scientist, who was like a second father to him when he was growing up, directly to Starfleet, but lets him continue to carry out his experiment. That, as it turns out, is to bring back his son, who was lost in a transporter accident 18 years ago in subspace.
Instead of protecting the crew and his ship from further harm, Archer appears to be emotionally blinded by his longstanding connection to this scientist, his daughter (who, by the way, he kisses on the lips when she comes on board) and his son. He neither listens to Tucker nor consults his other senior officers for advice. His leadership qualities as a captain essentially consist of overreacting emotionally, trying to get his way with a raised voice, shouting at his subordinates in a commanding tone and repeatedly making it clear to them that he has given them an order and that they should do their jobs. Maybe he would be better off as captain on the bridge of a Bird of Prey. On a Starfleet ship, however, he has no place at all. I'm not sure why this character was designed to be so one-dimensional and why he wasn't given more senior foresight and diplomatic eloquence.
The actual plot itself though isn't bad at all: a scientist who has been working for many years on transporting matter through subspace and thus bridging distances of many light years in an instant. However, on his first attempt, the test subject, who happened to be his son, did not materialize again and was lost in subspace. Since the signature is not yet completely disintegrated and appears to concentrate at a subspace node at regular intervals, it seems possible to capture the signature and re-materialize it. Unfortunately, this very interesting scientific setup is overshadowed by the erratic actions of Captain Archer.
In addition: It has always been interesting that in Star Trek there is always this ONE brilliant inventor working all alone on such monumental inventions as the technology of matter transport. Today we can already see in almost all areas of science and technology that the complexity has increased to such an extent that entire teams, which are also distributed globally, are now working on researching new scientific findings or developing groundbreaking technologies. For an experiment the importance and size like the one in this episode, an entire armada of scientists would have arrived on Enterprise, their suitcases packed with instruments and lots of technical gadgets.
Enterprise: Kir'Shara (2004)
Archer saved Earth and now he is destined to save Vulcan and Andoria - the savior of the galaxy
With the final season, the showrunners tried to halt the impending decline with double episodes and trilogies to entice viewers to tune in again. Episode 9 now concludes the trilogy about the tensions between Vulcan and the renegade Syrrannites as well as the impending attack on Andoria. And when it comes to Andoria, of course, Shran isn't far away - after all, he seems to be the only high-ranking officer the planet can spare. Although Shran never gets tired of emphasizing that Archer now owes him two, he and all of Andoria actually owe Archer, the Enterprise and Starfleet a lot now. In the end it is Archer again who saves the day and with it all of Andoria.
Archer and the crew uncover a plot within the Vulcan High Command and manage to prevent a military escalation and war between Vulcan and Andoria just in time. Tucker is allowed to play captain for a while and, for a change, has the situation largely under control and makes the right decisions to prevent the Vulcans from launching a major attack on Andoria. Meanwhile, Archer and T'Pol try to hand over Surak's writings to the High Command in order to persuade them to abandon the path of military confrontation and return to logic and reason. Speaking of logic: Why the High Command's henchmen try to stop Archer, T'Pol and T'Pau with fists and archaic-looking weapons instead of simply using phasers set to stun remains a mystery once again. Most scenes and conflicts in Star Trek could be avoided anyway if the phasers were simply used directly instead of long persuasion and hand-to-hand combat. If you don't cause fatal injuries with it anyway, there's actually no reason not to use this weapon directly at any time.
Unfortunately, T'Pol isn't much help during the whole operation. Her drug problems have turned her into an emotional wreck. Her logical conclusions, her rational advice, her cool head... she's just a shadow of her former self. At first, she was the only officer on board the Enterprise who didn't play the bold, trigger-happy cowboy like the rest of the senior officers. But then she became more and more of a sex symbol and her new calling was to give Tucker neuro-pressure massages. And finally the decline: drug addiction and emotional instability.
By the way: There must be many women on Vulcan who have the same name. Given the way of naming with a T followed by a short syllable (T'Pol, T'Pau, T'Les or T'Pring, T'Lyn, T'Rina), creativity in finding a name seems to be quite limited.
Enterprise: The Forge (2004)
Enterprise P.I.
Starfleet and Earth in general seem to have a pretty big problem with a shortage of trained professionals when the Enterprise crew is sent to the site of an embassy bombing to investigate what happened. Are Mayweather and Reed now also crime scene investigators, special agents and profilers? Are there no more police organizations, planetary security and secret services? And the investigation of such an attack site is then carried out without forensics, photos, video material, etc.? And also without protective suits and gloves so as not to contaminate the evidence?
And why does Vulcan always look like a backwater planet where not a single tree grows and you don't see any signs of industry or progress? The Vulcans are a highly advanced civilization that has developed warp-capable spaceships and uses them to roam the galaxy. But there doesn't even seem to be a pub or a supermarket anywhere on their planet. Let alone huge futuristic metropolises in which millions of people live in very small spaces (like Tokyo, for example). Where are the skyscrapers? Where are the industries? Where's the neon signs and the nightlife? Even the houses look like these people live in a pre-industrial age. No monitors, no gadgets, no cars or anything like that, just nothing. You don't see any streets, sidewalks, street lights... not even normal day-to-day life: people on the way to work, families with children, old people on park benches, teenagers hanging out...
Kind of typical for Star Trek. You never actually have the feeling of having arrived in the future. As a rule, people live either in caves or in small agricultural villages. Only in Lower Decks does one get the feeling that the various alien species are actually highly developed. For example, Ferenginar looks progressive and there are TV and entertainment series and normal nightlife.
Star Trek: Discovery: Jinaal (2024)
Let's talk about feelings for an hour and then call it Star Trek
This episode is a masterpiece of boredom. One certainly has to have a lot of practice and creativity as an author to write a 55 minute episode in which absolutely nothing happens and then even receive money to stage this non-action on film. In the end, as a viewer, you wonder if you shouldn't have spent those 55 minutes for ANYTHING other than wasting them on this episode.
When Adira announced Trill as the location for the next clue in the last episode, I feared the worst: Gray. And of course you're not spared the infantile conversation between Adira and Gray, where after a while you don't know whether you should either look away from the screen in disbelief or click fast forward a few times. You ask yourself whether you're actually watching science fiction and Star Trek, or whether you've accidentally opened a teenager's diary and just happened to come across the page about heartbreak and first love.
The entire episode, from start to finish, is a collection of relationship problems and emotional hysteria (especially from Tilly). It starts with bickering between Burnham and Booker, then Adira and Gray realize that a long-distance relationship doesn't work for them, Saru acts like a wimp again and is unsure whether his engagement was the right move... and of course Tilly, whose idea of professionalism as an officer on a spaceship is to fraternize with the crew and have a few cocktails at the bar. Because everything that has anything to do with a mission is carried out by Burnham and Booker alone anyway. And since the board computer does the rest of the work, the crew has nothing to do except gossip and talk about relationship problems. During the scene where Burnham introduces her bridge crew to Rayner, I thought to myself, "Who are all these people who have never been noticed before?" DIS is the only Star Trek series in which the entire bridge crew consists of extras who are just decoration so that the bridge doesn't look so empty.
The fifth season could have been a cross between Indiana Jones and National Treasure. In space. With sophisticated puzzles, peppered with all sorts of traps and futuristic technology. Instead, we get to witness a kind of slow-motion couples therapy that somehow managed to get a Star Trek stamp on it. I really wonder why a fifth season was even produced. This whole scavenger hunt has nothing to do with what has happened so far anyway. The fact that there is apparently even a spin-off in the works with Tilly as an instructor at the academy far exceeds my worst fears and imagination.
One star for Rayner, who at least initially put Tilly in her place. Tilly has always been a huge PITA, but this season she seems to have made it her mission to annoy all the show's "haters" (aka real Star Trek fans) even more.
Enterprise: Storm Front, Part II (2004)
All the time travel in this series pretty much exhausted my interest
After the last three episodes of the third season were basically one long episode in three parts and brought the Xindi plot and the threat to Earth from the weapon of mass destruction to a happy ending, the authors shouldn't have jumped into the next double adventure straight away. Both the crew and the viewers needed some time to breathe deeply and reflect on the events.
Instead, in the final episode of season three, Archer and the crew of the Enterprise were catapulted back in time to World War II, where a strange alien species changed historical events in Nazi Germany's favor. So the fourth and final season begins with a double episode: Changes in history, the Temporal Cold War that has gotten out of control and the Enterprise crew that wants to return to their time.
It's never a good sign when evil Nazis form the core of the plot in time travel stories. But when it is also about Nazi aliens, it usually becomes ridiculous. Unfortunately, that also applies to this double episode. Thanks to the aliens, Germany even managed to invade the USA. With these two episodes, the story about the Temporal Cold War finally and rather abruptly ends. This theme was built up over four seasons and is then presented with a rather sobering resolution to the conflict. All timelines are straight again and the villain has been eliminated. The fact that this whole story made pretty little sense and that we saw this new faction for the first time in the Temporal Cold War, although they seem to be THE central faction that ultimately messes everything up, didn't help the story at all. I'm still wondering how the timeline in which Nazis invaded America was corrected at the end. In the scene with Daniels and Archer, this timeline apparently corrects itself automatically, but that doesn't make any sense.
The whole story seems like a hasty attempt to wrap up the "Temporal Cold War" theme - with no regard for leaving plot holes so big that Enterprise could fit in them five times over. Silik is dead, Vosk is dead, Daniel is alive again, the timeline has been restored and everyone can now devote themselves to new adventures.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Shakespeare was a Klingon at heart
In my opinion, the last of the six Star Trek films with only the original crew is, along with Star Trek IV, the best film in this motion picture series. In contrast to Star Tek V, the focus here is at least an interesting and exciting conflict and Christopher Plummer as Chang is also a worthy opponent. A Shakespeare-quoting Klingon with a screwed-on eyepatch. Even though some of the Klingons in this film look very normal and often hardly have any pronounced forehead ridges, they still look better than what we see later in DIS.
The special effects have also improved compared to its visually unimpressive predecessor. The fight scene in weightlessness with all the drops of blood floating through the air is quite convincing, at least for the time in which the film was made. From today's perspective, of course, the whole thing lacks a bit of oomph. But it's difficult to compare films that are over 30 years old with CGI productions from today.
The story could have used a few more twists and turns, but the first Star Trek films aren't exactly known for telling the most profound stories. Who the traitor on board the Enterprise is is so obvious that one is actually just waiting for Kirk and Spock to finally follow the more than obvious breadcrumbs and unmask the charade.
Enterprise: Damage (2004)
Shiver me timbers! Cap'n ARRRcher 'n his hearties make shark bait o' another crew
Ole salt Archer no longer wants t' be jus' an explorer 'n the worst cap'n in Star Trek history 'n has therefore found his new callin' as a freebooter. As a fan o' big booty, he commandeers the first ship he comes across t' plunder its warp coil.
While Janeway strictly refused t' use captured technology on her ship (S7E14 "The Void"), Archer doesn't hesitate fer long. The ole swashbuckler doesn't wants t' go down in history like lily-livered Janeway. In doin' so, he once again betrays the ideals 'n values o' Star Trek. But we've been used t' that since season 3. Season 3 seems t' be the season in which the end justifies the means 'n Archer doesn't reckon twice about whether thar are other alternatives t' solvin' conflicts 'n problems. This season, the Enterprise crew be portrayed as a bunch o' cutthroats 'n thugs, which doesn't make 'em any more likeable t' me.
Enterprise: Azati Prime (2004)
Let me through, I'm a captain and I know exactly what to do... sort of
Just when you thought that the worst captain in the history of Star Trek couldn't sink any lower, Archer proves you wrong again and even tops himself. Because he no longer wants to be responsible for the deaths of crew members under his command, he simply carries out the suicide mission himself - and thus accepts that his ship and his crew will be leaderless and thus possibly exposed to even greater danger (incidentally, exactly what happens a short time later). Somehow Archer doesn't seem to have understood what the job of a spaceship captain is and what responsibility he has for the ship, the crew and the missions.
He is also stubborn as ever. Even agent Daniels' facts don't dissuade him from his stupid plan. And then he carries out this plan poorly: either the mission is to destroy the weapon or it is to start diplomatic talks with the enemy. Even the Xindi point out to Archer that it is strange that he initially wants to destroy and kill the weapon and the Xindi there, but then suddenly wants to talk after he is captured.
Archer lacks strategic vision. He actually only acts out of anger and instinct and not based on a well-thought-out plan. It's downright painful to watch - especially as he becomes increasingly emotional, loud and selfish in his speeches to his officers. I had a brief hope that he might somehow blow himself up and then T'Pol would take over as captain for the rest of the series. But that would have been too good to be true.
Star Trek: Discovery: Under the Twin Moons (2024)
Feelings, tears, hugs, cheer-ups, emotional well-being, mindfulness... and some insignificant mission as a subplot
The tragedy of this episode is that it actually has all the ingredients to create an interesting and entertaining story: a long-dead Romulan scientist who got to the bottom of the origin of life, a scavenger hunt throughout the galaxy, secret strange places with impressive archaeological sites, riddles and incomplete artifacts that need to be deciphered, one piece of the puzzle that leads to the next, two smart and elusive villains who fool their pursuers with all sorts of gadgets and lots of cojones, the connection of one of these villains to Booker, never previously seen Starfleet technology...
...but unfortunately the characters talk about their feelings every five minutes again. Either one person tells the other how they feel or asks another about their feelings. The focus of the episode is not on the mission but on the emotional well-being of the protagonists. After every shootout or when someone has a great idea, the characters fall into each other's arms and hug or cheer each other up. When Burnham or Saru give speeches and are seen in close-ups, they always look as if they are about to start crying. The actual story is overshadowed by sentimentality and tearjerkers. There is also no longer any command structure among the crew of the Discovery. No orders are given, not even by CAPTAIN Burnham. Instead, people politely ask: "Can you?", "Would you please?", "Are you able to?"... even the board computer is not ordered to simply enlarge a section of an image. Here too, the polite question is: "Can you enlarge the face in the photo?" And when Burnham says something, it's not taken as an order. Instead, this is interpreted as a request for a discussion. This then leads to Saru discussing with his captain who should draw enemy fire instead of simply following orders.
The whole crew seems like a support group for overly sensitive and emotionally disturbed teenagers. Starfleet has become a place of wimps and emotional wrecks. Somehow a mirror of today's youth. Reminds me of young colleagues at work who are fresh out of college. No respect for age and experience. Big problems with hierarchy and people telling them what to do. Hardly resilient. Ideally, only would like to work half-time three days a week - with full salary. Have no life experience, but still think they know and can do everything better. Place particular emphasis on mindfulness, equality, sexual and ethnic diversity... basically exactly what we are presented here as the Discovery crew.
The mission itself is once again executed amateurishly: Burnham and Saru are the only ones who beam onto the planet - even though a few armed soldiers with phaser rifles could have destroyed the drones in no time. And although the situation there seems extremely dangerous in the end and they are beamed out just in time, Burnham immediately sends a few people back to the surface to repair the damaged stone steles. Because of "respect for foreign cultures and their sacred sites" and stuff like that, you know.
And last but not least: Captain Rayner (the name always reminds me of Jim Raynor from StarCraft) doesn't seem to have an ounce of self-respect. Is kicked out of Starfleet and then has Burnham demote him to first officer on her ship. Someone with as much experience as he seems to have would have easily found new jobs in the private sector. By the way, Saru's suggestion to make Booker the new Number One cannot be beaten in terms of nepotism. The ex-lover in such a critical position also seems to be the worst of all ideas (plus, he's not even a Starfleet officer)! One could hardly expect objective advice from such a Number One in the heat of battle.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Maybe they should have looked for Q instead
Boring film whose story could easily have been told in a single TOS episode. They just should have left out the singing, the climbing, the Madmax scenes at the beginning and all the emotional "share your pain with me" tearjerker stuff.
The villain is actually not a villain at all, but just some kind of enlightened guru in search of God. There is no real conflict. That's probably why these totally ridiculous Klingon misfits were added, who have absolutely nothing to do with the actual plot. Just a few pissed off self-important nobodies who want to say hello to Kirk with their fists - and with a few torpedoes and disruptor shots.
The special effects are so bad that they should be called unspectacular effects instead. This seemingly superhuman being, who everyone initially thinks is God, is simply amateurishly animated. And why does this place of longing, which humans would call Eden, look like a barren planet with nothing but rocks and sand? And then Sybok also says that he imagined this place to be exactly like that!? So if this is what the place where gods live looks like, then you can also just take the left-hand turn to Gre'thor instead. With a little luck there will at least be blood wine there.