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Nerd heaven

Melissa Navia answered my questions on Open Pike Night! https://openpike.com/episode/melissa-navia-season-2-interview-oops-alltegas I wasn’t alone. Navia’s ep drew more first-time callers than any other, and she answered all their questions too. She was, as expected, a delight: sharing her dreams, gushing about the Star Trek family, tearing up over fans’ appreciation, telling secrets – this…

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The End, again

I just rewatched Hegemony, and Erica is killing me. “Then we need to think harder.” The Cayuga is debris. Scans for life signs are inconclusive. She put her feelings for Christine aside when another Klingon war was at stake; can she do it again now? “If there’s anyone alive down there, I want to know it.” For the moment, there’s hope – but not much. “I believe it is a Gorn hunter…

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It Begins...

The anticipation, that is. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Davy Perez (@davyperez) SNW writer/producer Davy Perez and director Chris Fisher both posted about shooting S3 this week. Perez wrote both S1 appearances of the Gorn, though Henry Alonso Myers is credited with the S2 finale. Fisher is responsible for A Quality of Mercy and the excessively melodramatic Broken Circle. Did…

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Moving on

The Davies/Tennant vanity project is complete. We may now return to our regularly scheduled Doctor Who. Sorry, Tennant fangirls: Gatwa is objectively the sexiest actor ever to play the Doctor. “The Giggle” has a lot of positive elements: creepy dolls, Neil Patrick Harris, Mel Bush, Fifteen in his underwear, Sarah Jane, the Doctor hugging himself, Kate handing out UNIT jobs like candy. It also…

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Bonus features

After the disastrous dinner with Ambassador Dak’Rah, Dr. M’Benga finds his fellow veterans in the lounge. He steps behind the bar, looking ominous. Ortegas, having already put her foot in it once today, looks like she’s expecting another dressing-down from a senior officer. (There’s been no confirmation of his rank, but her expression says it all.) Instead, he pours her – and himself – a…

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Wild Blue

I keep seeing people gush about this episode. It’s a bit like the raves ST: Picard got; I’m left wondering if we’re watching the same show. I mean, it’s fine? Tennant and Tate are a great pair, and this softer version of Ten is nice to see; at the same time, it wasn’t an outstanding story, and the effects looked too much like AI for comfort – especially considering the rumors around the writers’…

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Even more ship stuff

I recently came across this excellent discussion of queer subtext in popular media. It references a show I don’t watch, but the ideas can be applied widely. For example: “The Premise” Many fans long for this pair to have an explicit romantic and/or sexual relationship in canon. I do not expect these fans to get what they want, but at the same time, opportunities for subtext abound. Here are…

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The TARDIS has landed...

SPOILER ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! Obviously. As expected, I did not love it. The Peak Russell Tenth Doctor Melodrama was more than a little too much. The gunfight was beyond excessive. I did not enjoy the return to Murray Gold’s bombastic musical style – and I HATED whatever he did to the closing theme. (Was that supposed to sound like running breaths? It was awful.) Some of the comedy fell flat,…

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Time Crash

The Fourteenth Doctor – or “Four-Tenth,” as some are calling him – has arrived. Being a Children in Need special, it is necessarily brief and necessarily silly. Being the work of Russell T. Davies, it is necessarily packed with references. If you didn’t know instantly that we were witnessing the genesis of the Daleks, the Doctor will soon point it out for you. It’s also timey-wimey enough to…

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Tales of the TARDIS

Doctor Who 60th anniversary promotions are well under way. One of the items presented is a series of shorts featuring classic companions – and a few Doctors – reminiscing about their adventures. We weren’t supposed to get it in the US, but some kind soul made sure that we did. Every one of these characters is a delight to see again – even Peri, who was somewhat unbearable in her time, and Clyde…

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Erica is full of no

Rewatching Charades, I’m struck by how thoroughly Ortegas opposes any ill-advised actions – moments before she jumps in with both feet. Christine wants to fly back to the anomaly. Uhura thinks they can do it. Ortegas argues: “Last time we sent a shuttle there, it crashed.” But Christine makes an emotional plea, and Erica responds: “Let’s do this crazy thing.” Of course she wants to do it –…

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Music musings

Emotion can be a dangerous thing. Music exposes it. In the series Angel, demonic KJ Lorne could read the auras of singers in his club. Their true thoughts and feelings were revealed through song, whether or not they meant to share. Dr. M’Benga has a dark and deadly secret, and he fears music. As did La’an, once: Throughout S1, La’an keeps her true self under rigid control. In Children of the…

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Directing: Another angle

The Broken Circle is directed for maximum drama, using extreme close-ups, long push-ins, slow motion, and lingering looks to hammer home the EXTREME FEELS of the episode. EXTREME feels Not to mention extended fight sequences, “now or never” torpedoes, and lots and lots of (Vulcan) tears. As a strategy, it backfires: the drama becomes melodrama, more comical than compelling. I had difficulty…

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Under the Cloak

Imagine… The Doctor: Since his youth he has studied martial arts as an outlet, for fitness and clarity of thought. He is dedicated in everything he does, so of course he gets very good at it. During the war, he is assigned a ground mission, and discovers a surprising aptitude for assassination. He acquires a reputation. His medical and combat skills are put to use developing drugs to help…

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Looking ahead

In the wake of the SNW S2 finale, speculations around S3 gather like Gorn. As an example, I came across this list; while I agree with a lot of it, I would make some changes – and a few additions. What I Want to See in SNW S3: Put the last first. Pay writers and actors – and crew and designers and CGI animators and everyone else who works so hard making this thing we love – appropriately for…

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What a way to go

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME STRANGE NEW WORLDS SPOILER ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! Damn. The cliffhanger was always a risk. After a wildly successful first season, Strange New Worlds was on a roll. S2 was in the can, S3 unofficially greenlit, and they had a banger of a story to tell. There was no reason not to bring back yet another nostalgic broadcast tradition. Except for those looming contract…

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Once More, With Feeling

It goes without saying: SPOILER ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! The Buffy references are obvious and unavoidable – and, according to the creators, intentional. gifsource As in that model of a TV musical, hearts are (unwillingly) opened, and people are forced to deal with their true feelings. Numerous emotional arcs are brought to a conclusion. Spock/Chapel They were doomed from the start. On the one…