Chosen Realm is the worst EP of S3 so far.
Why? Apart from bad acting, predictability and lack of originality the first and foremost reason is that we (Europeans )get the impression that this show is aimed at American viewers solely (oh wait it is...) as a sort of brainwashing. If you think this episode was good then your brain has been successfully washed. Congratulations, be merry and shoot your neighbour or buy 10 more weapons so you feel safer at home. There's always the exception of course and I apologize for generalization here.
Does Bill own Paramount or why are we presented with an election campaign clad in a TV soap with a political hinge on current affairs? Yes there are stupid people fighting a stupid "holy war" blowing themselves and others to pieces. Does a TV soap "justice" to the subject at hand. No, it cannot and never should intend to even try.
Bad mistake Manny. Say NO to Bill next time.
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That is quite a stretch: Now Star Trek is the nefarious product of Paramount, brainwashing Americans into buying more assault weapons and (gasp!) voting for Bush. I can see that at least one European needs to tune into more quality European programming and GET A LIFE. Buy a dog. Read a book. Do anything but stop trying to psychoanalyze Americans based on a TV show. Then again, don’t stop…you gave me my first good laugh today. “Star Trek: Enterprise, now sponsored by the Colt firearm Co. and the Bush 2004 Campaign Committee”……you just can’t make this stuff up.
All I can feel is sympathy for Manny Coto. The utterly creative mind behind Odyssey 5... the guy who provided us with such brain-stretching episodes in O5 and The Outer Limits... reduced to this.
This isn't Manny. This is just old Trek through and through. It was just apalling to watch (for all the reasons that O. Deus laid out and I won't rehash).
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Lydia: "I've never lost at mortal combat yet."
Diana: "Idiot. If you had, you'd be dead." -- V, "The Champion"
A "death to the Islamo-fascists" episode. The radical zealots on the Enterprise were the radical Muslims and the only way to get through to them is to "communicate" with them in the only language they seem to understand: force. This episode was HIGHLY realistic and close to the facts: hundreds of radical muslims have already blown themselves up in order to kill thousands and thousands of innocents, all in the name of religion. Millions more support and revere them. Talking with these radical-Muslims only emboldens them (a parallel with the first half of the show: Archer's talking with the radicals on his ship accomplishes nothing). The only solution left: meet force with force (parallel: the second half of the show). Disagree with me? Do you REALLY believe that the Islamo-fascists will be convinced at the negotiating table to stop killing? If so, you are ideologically rigid and need to look at evidence instead of naďve hopes (parallel: if an Enterprise crew member wanted, out of principle, to continue negotiating with the radicals, even after they demonstrated their murderous inflexibility, he/she would be the ideologically rigid, naďve one.).
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Sounds like a typical American-Imperialist attitude. There are *reasons* -- be they normative or causal -- as to why the Muslim world hates us. By disregarding these reaspns, and resorting to the American euphamism of regarding "force" as a "language" that the enemy will understand, smacks of an Orwellian cliche. The aliens on "Chosen Realm" were one dimensional cardboard cutouts -- and that anyone would regard them as "reaslistic" is merely evidence that their perception of radical Muslims is equally one-dimensional...
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There are 'reasons' why the Klan hates black people.
There are 'reasons' the USSR and Nazi Germany wanted to conquer as much of their neighbors as they could.
By disregarding these reaspns, and resorting to the American euphamism of regarding "force" as a "language" that the enemy will understand, smacks of an Orwellian cliche.
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I agree that the aliens on "Chosen Realm" were one-dimensional cardboard cutouts – it is a TV show, after all. This does not, however, eliminate the clear similarities between their murderous, religious zealotry with the murderous, religious zealotry of the Muslim extremists who preach hate and murder to preshoolers, who celebrate in the streets when thousands of free and innocent people are killed, and who glorify suicide murderers. Fact: Hundreds and hundreds of innocents have been killed in Israel by suicide bombers. The crimes of the innocents: wrongthinking. The motivation of the suicide bombers: martyrdom. Fact: Palestinian authorities provide payments (payments!) to the families of the killers. Fact: The Israel government has made sporadic attempts to talk to the Palestinian authorities, to try to understand the “reasons” they encourage the murder of innocents. Fact: the killings continue. Fact: Writings were found that prove the Sept. 11 hijackers were motivated by religious zealotry. Fact: Trying to understand these “reasons” would not have stopped them. Fact: more than 500 Americans were killed between the first World Trade Center bombing and Sept. 11, 2001 (in New York City, Egypt, Oman, etc.) Fact: We spent those years trying to “understand the reasons” behind their actions. Fact: the end result of these efforts was the emboldening of the murderers and the death of several thousand more Americans. Fact: There have been no major terrorist attacks since we took the fight directly to the terrorists, since we have used the language of force. Fact: planning continues today by religious zealots to kill more Americans, like you and me. Our crime? Being free-thinking people who live in a free society that is not controlled by the Muslim fascist extremists. These facts are apparently being ignored by you (do you dispute the truth of any of them?). It is important to note that I have not “disregarded the reasons” behind their murder. Just the opposite is true. I have fully regarded that the reason behind their murder is religious zealotry and hate. I am prepared to support those who want to deal with these reasons frankly and directly. You are not. I submit that one who ignores facts in favor of his or her personal preconceived ideology is an ideologue. I WOULD feel comfortable with ideologues like yourself sitting at the negotiating table with the Islamo-fascists to try to show how open-minded you are as you try to “understand the reasons…be they normative or causal…” behind their murder, but I expect you will bring the rest of us down with you and we will not allow that to happen again again. Another point: You say “The Muslim world hates us.” Oh, really? The good people of Iran who wish to throw off the bonds of their Iranian Islamo-fascist dictators do not hate us. The good people of Afghanistan who no longer live in fear of the Islamo-fascist Taliban do not hate us. The good people of Iraq who no longer witness parades to mass graves hate us. I caution you against using such a broad brush to describe people, the act of one with a penchant for shallow thinking and prejudice. Another point: you demonstrated your inflexible ideology, showed your hand so to speak, when you said that regarding force as a language is an “American euphemism”. Pity the blame-America-first crowd which thinks that all things they consider bad are “American” inventions.
Archer has a new haircut.
Slut Vulcan's breasts seem to have become smaller over Christmas.
Oh and the ship got taken-over yet again and then re-taken.
With all this going on in an episode, I think Season 4 is a certainty.
Actually, I thought it was a good episode *ducking* Pleasedon'thurtme!
Not ALL episodes have to be Instant Classics. Considering other episodes, it's actually quite good. And for the revelation of the fighting in this ep, I thought it was treated like an afterthought, rather than the Big Dramatic Shocker from "Battlefield". I distictly remember loud tubas and trumpets in 'Battlefield', but its been awhile.
I don't know. Even in its most cringe-worthy moments, there's something that makes me feel good in Enterprise. Sure, Archer may act like an idiot sometimes (and I love that fact that the baddie in this one rubbed the airlock adventure in his face). And T'Pol is a sissy and the opening theme hurt my ears and Mayweather is just...there. But I like that the writers are trying, throwing us contiunity and stuff, as opposed to shrugging and going quietly into cancellation.
I just can't help but being happy that Enterprise exists. I had skimmed Deus review and still I couldn't help but feel happy when I saw the episode and knowing there's another new one coming next week. Call me a hopeless optimist.
Yeah, Enterprise is choke-full of defects and Archer can be a real moron sometimes, but he's MY moron and I will feel sorry when the show is finally cancelled. Been awhile since I've looked foward to another episode from ANY tv series, frankly. And in my book, that is a Good Thing.
For me, the episode had a couple of good performances, noteably Archer and Prenom. As O.Deus mentioned Prenom was not the usual over the top character that has been seen before. Prenom was quite composed while controlling his followers and controlling events on Enterprise. It was Archer's performance that stood out though. Watching Archer's growing frustration as the situation unfolded was a fine example of understated acting. First he had to watch his ship being commandeered by a religious fanatic. Then he watched all their research on the Expanse was erased. Followed by a command to sacrifice one his crew. All the while having to maintain something akin to a discourse with Prenom.
From a the view of the storyline, I was fascinated at the mingling of the two themes in the TOS stories Space Seed and Let This Be Your Last Battlefield. The episode's screenplay was uneven as O. Deus mentioned but I still give it a passing grade for the performances that were central to the story.
...but everyone has their own opinion so it's all good. As has been said a million times before in life and on this board, there are no new story formulas. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy and it just comes down to how you dress up that plot device to make a story...and I think that this one actually does a really good job of that. I was intrigued the whole time, not what I expected at all. This episode really punched me in the gut a couple times... here's why.
While as a stand alone episode, the plot might not have been an amazing work of writing. When put in the cannon of this arc that were in right now it really throws us a few loops. Here we are, at the beginning of the hour, and we just find out that ENTERPRISE has found another sphere and we're so much closer to being able to identify exactly how many spheres there are in the expanse. The crew also now has a real alternative to using Trellium-D on the hull (remember how toxic it was for T'Pol) because they can more accuratly map where these spacial distortions will occur. Progress. They even take a shuttle through the cloaking barrier, which months ago was wreaking havoc on the ship. But then, BLAM! He erases their records in the situation room. Should they have a back-up somewhere? Probably, but that didn't make it any less painful to watch as our villian smugly stared at Archer as he deleted the files.
Another way the episode wrenched my insides was at the end. Even after watching this a**hole use his religion to destroy and belittle ENTERPRISES cause and resolve, I couldn't help but feel a little choked up when he stepped out of the pod and saw what had happened to his planet. I know, you all saw it before in TOS... but I didn't. :-)
Anyway, the only other thing I have to say is what's with all the talk about T'Pol not busting things up on the bridge? I'm sorry, but she and Mayweather were the only two of the crew on the bridge and they were outnumbered like 2 or 3 to 1 by the "fanatics..." and all of the "fanatics" were armed! It doesn't seem like a very logical step to try to overpower them with no weapons and those kind of odds, seeing as they probably would have killed her if she had tried to fight them. She did start to act up a little, but she quickly realized that there was no logic in getting herself and Mayweather killed.
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"A billion robot lives are about to be extinguished! Oh, the Jedis are going to feel this one..."
-Hubert Farnsworth (Futurama: Crimes of the Hot)
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"The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one!"
-Shran (ENT: Proving Ground)
I'm somewhat relieved to see that it was about fanatism only, and not religion in general. I was afraid it was going to be "religion bashing" as someone said here but that's not how I percieve this episode.
But I think O. Deus's review is spot on! The episode has all the problems he mention, and was quite messy in the portrayal of this species religion. Some elements were taken out of todays major religions, and I don't really see how it fits in. Things like abortion, about the proper way to treat the enemy, about paradise, are much more complex matters than even hinted at here. These elements were just thrown together. Maybe if the story took ONE thing and went into detail about that, it wouldn't seem so crazy.
On the other hand, it was probably wise not to go into details about such things and risk to alienate half the audience who believe in something else. I will make a very strong point out of saying: It's NOT Star Trek's job to teach religion, and that includes taking a stand on religious beliefs. It's not that I think there isn't any "truth" but I doubt it will come from Star Trek.
There was some focus on violence as a result of fanatism, which I think is fine to bring up. It's sad to see religion can amplify hatred.
Unfortunately, the second half of the episode developed into a mindless "lets regain control over the ship" story which dropped all reasoning and sense on the floor. I was ashamed. The worst thing is, I don't understand why TPTB can do this; it's certainly not going to save the Trek franchine. Time to END this mindless action.
The episode had a few interesting moments but honestly I can't give this more than 3 or 4 on Trekweb's rating scale.
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Yes the high point of the episode involved Archer having to choose which of his crew members to kill. Once Archer pulls the transporter gag, the tension and suspense are gone, the villains get dumbed down and the action takes over and the whole thing plays out rather predictably.
I really expected this episode to disappoint. As usual, I find that going in with low expectations lets me actually come out with a pretty good opinion of an episode.
"Realm" clearly has problems, but I never got the impression that Deus and others have cited that the villain was two-dimensional. On the contrary, I found the dialogue b/w Archer and the Prenom to be quite well-written. Of course the parallels to suicide bombers and holy wars and non-believers is all very obvious, but I didn't have a problem with it. The script makes some very good points, like the absurdity of the rift between D'Jamat's followers and "heretics." This speaks not even so much to religious fanaticism to me as it does to religious conflict in general. It's like the Crusades. All fought because either side refused to believe in the other side's god. That is a simplification, but I've often felt that religious violence is often predicated an superficial differences that aren't worth killing over.
The final scene was also a big helper in making the episode an overall winner for me because instead of just leaving D'Jamat with his holier-than-thou "it is alright to kill all nonbelievers and you will never understand" mentality, instead Archer sticks it to him by showing the ultimate consequences of D'Jamat's (and those like him) actions. Their holy war destroyed their entire planet, and that's something you can believe may begin to actually get through D'Jamat's dogma.
"Realm"'s main problems are structural and creative. It's a good idea grafted onto the same skeleton of a million other ST episodes. I intend no offense to the writing staff, but honestly I wonder what the beat session is like for a story like this. I mean, as soon as they decide "religious zealots take over the Enterprise," can the next breath in the room realistically be "you know what would be really good? if one of the hijackers sympathizes with Archer and helps them retake the ship!" ? In other words, this plot device is so worn that there's probably not much breaking down that has to occur. Once they decide to go this route, they just send off Coto to write a script according to the "aliens takeover the ship" paradigm--to the T.
That is the most disappointing thing about the episode. The only other quibbles I had are that the "guests" were given free roam of the ship--so much so that they can just enter engineering and position themselves next to the warp reactor without any taking notice? Even though Archer told Reed that he wanted to make sure they had no weapons before taking them onboard--the setup for the organic suicide bombs--I still find it doubtful that Archer, especially this season, would let any unauthorized aliens roam whereever they want to, whether they are obviously armed or not. Certainly Reed or the MACO's wouldn't have. Also, having D'Jamat read Archer's logs made it hard to swallow that he didn't come across several logs referencing the use of the transporter. However, if they had been more careful to explain this away, I like the idea of using the transporter in this manner. It's a brief flash of originality in terms of the plot (at least I can't recall the crew ever fooling their captors into letting them use the transporter before).
On the plus side, I enjoyed the homage to instant messaging technology with Phlox and Archer in Sickbay. And it was refreshing to see Phlox have to actually connect a beaker of fluid to the environmental system--a far cry from the ease with which 24th century starships can target specific rooms to flood with gas to disable an enemy. Deleting the logs was also a good move, allowing the Xindi plot to back track a little.
Overall I'd give it a 6. Definitely better than the usual ENT--hey, the plot may have been done alreadya few times in this series, but at least this time the religious fanaticism angle offered something of a fresh take (it's better than the usual pirate angle). If they could just come up with a more inventive way of executing these kinds of plots, I think this episode did have the ideas. They were just weighed down in cliched plot progression and some gaps in logic.
Oh and, the visual effects continue to impress while the make-up department continues to disappoint.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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Nice points all around Steve, I think I liked your review of things a bit more than Deus's. I'd also heard the episode would be bad, and also found that my low expectations led to actual enjoyment of the episode. I agree that most of the retaking of the ship has been seen, but I have to say it was well choreographed(Seriously, I found myself actually watching the gun battle and thinking it was pretty good, everyone took cover--when I've often noticed that the bad guys don't always seem to think cover is nesicary in past episodes--and not only that but the cover actually blocked the blasts, when usually the good guys get a perfect shot in after just a second). Of course none of that changes the fact that it was a by-the-numbers plot. But I felt that the ending actually took a risk--and was actually quite moved by it(by the way I'm really starting to think that Roxann Dawson is one of the best directors they have).
All in all I think I'd give it a 7.
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"Time is a face on the water."
-Stephen King, The Dark Tower Series-
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Actually what I argued was that the religion was two dimensional, not the Prenom.
"Its strongest point is the guest-starring performance by the actor portraying the Prenom, who in cooperating with Dawson plays the character as a man who genuinely believes himself to be a hero, instead of an obvious villain as such characters are often portrayed on TREK. As such, he's closer to Kurtwood Smith's 'Annorax' than F. Murray Abraham's 'Ru'afo'. That makes his final revelation on the planet all the more tragic when he finally has no choice but to see himself as the villain."
"All this might not have mattered too much if "Chosen Realm" had managed to make the characters and the ideas gripping enough to make us overlook the threadbare plot. Unfortunately the script doesn't have ideas so much as it has cliches with no real life or depth. Like many religions on STAR TREK, the religion of the aliens is absurd and vague. Where real religions and ideologies connect to the lives of their worshippers in a real way, no matter how unreal they might be, religions on STAR TREK usually fall into two categories. They're either incantations of vague spirituality in which the religion is hodge podge of new age and a Hollywood writer's surface grasp of eastern philosophy that neither stands for anything or means anything except 'peace' and 'love' and 'destiny'; or their entire religion is defined by fanatical lunacy in which they're out to slaughter everyone who doesn't believe as they do. "Chosen Realm" is a textbook definition of the latter, especially since Archer frames his accusation in almost these exact same words. But it rarely feels like a real religion, a faith people would be willing to kill and die for."
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Yes, but the episode wasn't attempting to depict the Triannon religion. It was attempting to depict D'Jamat's misinterpretation of that religion. So criticizing it for not giving enough depth to the religion is a moot point.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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There is no such thing as a minsinterpretation of a religion, only differing interpretations. i.e. There is no 'true' version of Christianity, just differing interpretations.
Chosen Realm depicted Enterprise's collision with an ideology and the failure to plausibly depict that ideology seriously undermines the story.
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I don't know about you, but personally I believe Osama's interpretation of Islam to be a misinterpretation. You can split hairs all you want, though.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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Which might matter if you were a Muslim and had the right to have an opinion on the matter.
One of the minor points that were part of Chosen Realm is that the right and wrong interpretation of a religion is subjective to the followers of that religion depending on their belief.
And faith is belief. Belief in the divine origin and validity of a particular religion. The accurate or inaccurate interpretation is the question of which interpretation best matches the word of god. Thus it's a subject of debate for believers and objectively there is no right interpretation or wrong one, just different interpretations.
There's just as much basis in the Bible for the worldview of the crusader as there is for the pacifist. And there's as much support in the Koran for the worldview of Osama or the moderate muslim. That's not splitting hairs, that's just the way it is.
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Steve said “Osama's interpretation of Islam (is) a MISinterpretation”. You responded, “Which might matter if you were a Muslim and had the right to have an opinion on the matter.” Is it REALLY your position that Osama can kills thousands and thousands of people for wrongthinking, but hey, who are we to judge? Your incredibly ignorant position that non-Muslims have no right to an opinion on the actions of Osama bin Laden are a perfect example of why he gains strength.
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I'm a New Yorker. I live downwind of Ground Zero. If I had my way Osama would be covered with bacon sauce and thrown into a nest of rats.
This is not about my view of Osama. It's about the relativity of interpreting religious doctrines. Non-Muslims can have opinions on Osama, but they can't credibly claim that his interpretation of Islam is wrong.
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Quote:
Thus it's a subject of debate for believers and objectively there is no right interpretation or wrong one, just different interpretations.
There's just as much basis in the Bible for the worldview of the crusader as there is for the pacifist. And there's as much support in the Koran for the worldview of Osama or the moderate muslim. That's not splitting hairs, that's just the way it is.
Although I generally liked the review, I just can't let this statement pass as it is rife with ignorance of the Bible, the Quran, historical Christianity, and Islam.
There is a true Christian and a true Islam faith. Which one is True (with a capital "T") is a subject for another thread but still, true followers can be identified. Christ verbalized the true Christian faith and Muhammad did the same for Islam. Those believers who most closely adhere to the teachings of these two individuals are today called "fundamentalists". Fundamentalists in the Christian faith do not "interpret" or allegorize the Bible, but take it at face value. The further away from the original teachings one strays, the less "fundamental" one becomes. Likewise, Islamic fundamentalists do the the same with the Quran. Unfortunately, secularists fail to recognize the polar opposite views of these two groups of fundamentalists. The former believes that a believer in Christ should share the "Good News" (aka the "Gospel") with the unbeliever in the hope that they will share in eternal life. They also believe in Christ's admonition to "turn the other cheek" to forgive others, to love one another, and to treat your enemies as a friend. This is Christian fundamentalism. Now, the latter group takes the literal words written by Muhammad where he says that the non-believer (aka the "infidel") should be hunted down and forced to accept their faith or be killed, at face value. And why shouldn't they? If they are to follow the teachings in the pages of the Quran, they are obliged to kill or convert every non-believer. There is simply no corollary to this belief system in Christianity (if you think the so called "Crusades" fit this bill then do a little research. Although I am not a Catholic, I know anti-catholic propaganda when I see it and the "evil Crusades" is one such example. Go here for an overview of this subject.)
The problem I have with "Realm" is that it tries to be topical in only the most superficial sense. It doesn't have the guts to actually call a spade a spade. In the TOS days, social evils were the topic du jour. Today, THE single most important topic facing this generation is the overwhelming danger of Islamic fundamentalism. Here, B&B have a chance to delve into this critical issue yet miss the mark by a light year. They sort of let us know that they are talking about Islamic terrorists with the suicide bombing at the beginning but then fail to explore the underlying hatred that so defines Islamic fundamentalism. Islamic true believers see Judaism and Christianity (and any nation that allows them to exist) as their mortal enemy. The reason they see it this way is that their holy writings tells them that this is so. Any other reading is to ignore the words on the page.
America is hated by these people because it allows for the freedom to practice non-Islamic faiths. The Quran teaches that this is an abomination that must be stopped at all costs. Moderate and liberal (i.e. marginal) Muslims don't generally believe what the Quran says on this subject but it is hard to ignore the deafening silence of the worldwide Muslim community regarding the fundamentalist actions taking place daily across the face of the planet. The reality is, even the marginal Muslims sympathize with the fundamentalist factions, and the fact that a very large percentage of the Islamic world is QUITE sympathetic to the fundamental position is an indication that such beliefs are far from extreme. I'm not saying they are mainstream but in fact, any Muslim who has read the Quran knows what it says about the Jews and the "infidels". You can't cover that kind of thing up. So, while the moderate and liberal Muslim may not personally want to go on an American Christian killing spree (tm), they don't mind if a fellow believer does.
This reality is a stark one and would make for a fantastic backdrop to an Enterprise episode. Instead, in "Realm" we are given no believable reason why the hijackers hate the "heretics" except for the "created in 9 instead of 10 day" rubric. This difference of "interpretation" is an insult to both the viewer and to religious persons everywhere. First of all, we are given no reason to believe that there are any "writings" to interpret or misinterpret regarding the 9 v. 10 creation days. These aliens know nothing about the "Creators" as far as we can tell so the argument over 9 vs. 10 is just arm-waving based on nothing. Second, there is no current human example where two sects of the same religion, each with similar beliefs, have gone to war with each other over such a nitpick. We don't see this in Islam or Christianity today (if ever). Today's "holy wars" are between vying world and religious views, something this teleplay completely misses.
The "heretics" of the episode SHOULD have been some population that believed that the spheres are not divine but rather, just like Archer's view of them; mechanical creations of some alien race. This would have provided a much needed dimension to the story and given a solid reason, not just for the alien's war but also for their ambush of the Ent crew. But one senses that the 9 vs. 10 day creation is intended as a swipe at the Creationist camp in the Christian community rather than an attempt to continue with the Islamic terrorist analogy. It's like TPTB realized they might offend some Muslims if they made the parallels too stark so they decided to muddy it up a bit. It is well known that the creation story is a heated debate in the Christian Church. Yet I defy anyone to find a shooting war going on over this subject. Heck, if Christians don't kill evolutionists for their beliefs then they are not going to kill one of their own.
I would have to see the ep again to verify this but I sensed several other attempts by B&B to blur the line between whether these aliens were metaphors for Muslims or Christians. Because of this, it did a huge disservice to the whole debate. Heck, we even have one poster to this thread talking about the evils of "dogmatism" (meaning fundamentalism) as if it applied evenly to all religions, which it clearly cannot. Ghandi was dogmatic about his pacifism, Christ was dogmatic about loving others unconditionally, Muhammed was dogmatic about killing Jews. Of these three, the former two are dogmatic views I personally have no problem with.
You can tell that I despised this episode. Not because it was formula or because Archer stupidly let terrorists roam his ship freely or because T'Pol couldn't find a nerve in the enemy's neck but rather, because it was dishonest. It failed to show the true evil of a religion that has, as its central tenet, hatred of all who do not believe as it teaches. This is a unique aspect to Islam. Christianity has, as a central, fundamental belief, the exact opposite teaching. But Archer condemns all belief systems which claim to hold a corner on the truth even though there is a possibility that one belief system might be the True one (with a capital T). Claiming there is no Truth is the height of hypocrisy since such a claim is internally at odds with itself. If it is true that there is no Truth then it cannot be absolutely claimed that there is no truth.
Such is the wasteland of Hollywood's view of this subject. My sense is that they should avoid tackling something they know nothing about. Racism (ala "Battlefield") is an easy subject compared to this.
-B
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Pro Tree | Pro Forest | Pro Clear Cut
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There is a true Christian and a true Islam faith. Which one is True (with a capital "T") is a subject for another thread but still, true followers can be identified.
Yes, by those who agree with a particular interpretation of what the 'truth' is.
Christ verbalized the true Christian faith and Muhammad did the same for Islam.
And that would be useful if they were around, if the statements ascribed to them weren't at times contradictory and if their legacies hadn't been thoroughly appropriated and reinterpreted within mere centuries of their deaths.
Those believers who most closely adhere to the teachings of these two individuals are today called "fundamentalists".
No, they most closely adhere to what their understanding of the fundamental teachings are. In real fundamentalists can be quite selective about the teachings they choose and have means of ignoring or overlooking or reinterpreting the ones they're less comfortable with.
The former believes that a believer in Christ should share the "Good News" (aka the "Gospel") with the unbeliever in the hope that they will share in eternal life. They also believe in Christ's admonition to "turn the other cheek" to forgive others, to love one another, and to treat your enemies as a friend. This is Christian fundamentalism.
Those are some aspects of Christian fundamentalism, there are other darker aspects as well which I see no point in getting into in this discussion which has gone far afield already.
And why shouldn't they? If they are to follow the teachings in the pages of the Quran, they are obliged to kill or convert every non-believer. There is simply no corollary to this belief system in Christianity (if you think the so called "Crusades" fit this bill then do a little research.
The Crusades, the Inquisition, the eradication of heretics within Christianity that went on for over a thousand years under the arm of the Mother Church, the violent and brutal battles between Catholics and Protestants.
This reality is a stark one and would make for a fantastic backdrop to an Enterprise episode. Instead, in "Realm" we are given no believable reason why the hijackers hate the "heretics" except for the "created in 9 instead of 10 day" rubric. This difference of "interpretation" is an insult to both the viewer and to religious persons everywhere. First of all, we are given no reason to believe that there are any "writings" to interpret or misinterpret regarding the 9 v. 10 creation days. These aliens know nothing about the "Creators" as far as we can tell so the argument over 9 vs. 10 is just arm-waving based on nothing. Second, there is no current human example where two sects of the same religion, each with similar beliefs, have gone to war with each other over such a nitpick. We don't see this in Islam or Christianity today (if ever). Today's "holy wars" are between vying world and religious views, something this teleplay completely misses.
Well I certainly agree with that. Thus the portrayal and the issues lacks any depth because their views don't connect to anything and aren't rooted in anything.
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That is true, but there are interpretations that are unacceptable in a civilized world. Rather, it's not the interpretations but the original source material, much of which is unacceptable by our current standards of civilized behavior. So however you want to put it, in "Chosen Realm," D'Jamat's source material or interpretation was unacceptable. I don't expect a 39 minute show to give me more than a smidgen of development of a huge concept like an alien religion. The show portrayed the elements that were essential to its story. A far more relevant criticism, in my estimation, was the formulaic plot.
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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I agree that it's unacceptable. But it's not a question of interpretation but how we view an idea from our own values and the values of our culture. We could have a religion that believes it has to kill a firstborn female girl children. It could be a completely accurate interpretation of that religion's views, but it would also be a completely unacceptable action.
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To be honest steve, deleting the logs was BAD. In the dozen episodes this season, we really haven't been given all that much if you really think about it. I said in another post all the things we still don't know - not just little things, but I'm talking about core things that were asked at the beginning of the season and we still have no idea about them now. In any event, going back is not what this series needs to do, it needs to go forward. I'm not interested in the crew refiguring out what they knew before. To be really honest, I want them to haul their asses and get on with the story. Stories like this one just really make me want to stop watching the show. Let's face it Steve, this show sucks. This season, 24 has the exact same problem - there are tons of reset buttons, cliches and mystery that just isn't mystery. While it's still ok, it's not even close to what 24 used to be - it has degenerated into cheap soap opera with cheesy cliches and far fetched ideas. It's not anything like it used to be. In a sense, it's a lot like Enterprise - going no where. I'm actually not even watching the show much anymore. I save a few episodes and watch them all at once. I can't be bothered to watch them from week to week. This show just sucks. I can't put it any other way. I don't even know why I bother to reply anymore either, although you'll certainly notice my participation on your fantastic site has dropped next to nothing. I just can't be bothered. When a good episode is actually made, then I'll come back, but for now, I wouldn't count on it.
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I thought deleting the logs was an excellent decision. I may be a nerd, but it made me "connect" a little more to their time. To see essentially a command prompt with a delete command, not to mention an Instant Message window in the sickbay scene, all made the episode connect just a little better. Seem more real.
Plus you could feel the sense of dred when archer watched those logs get deleted. It was almost better than executing that crew member at the beginning.
Besides, I would bet that data is backed up nightly.. ;) I mean if we do taht today (or should) I would hope backup technology has progressed a bit in a few hundred years.. Or else I should sell my stock in VERITAS..
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I think you're just being impatient. If ENT were doing these shows in a less formulaic manner, and thus not drawing attention to its flaws so easily, I think you might be having a better time of it. Look at DS9. It took years to make any major plot developments in the Dominion War. Hell, from "Sacrifice of Angels" to "Tears of the Prophets" was nearly an entire season of little or not major plot developments in the war. Look at X-FILES; how many contradictory eps did they present each season before ever finally moving along the mythology in any significant way?
I thought "Realm" did a good job of weaving its standalone plot into the overall Xindi arc. All this criticism of the show for not "getting to the goods" after a mere 13 episodes is just silliness. A lot has transpired already in the arc and more is going to transpire in the next 6 weeks. I don't think you can legitimately criticize the show for not having resolved itself yet. It's laying a large, intricate tapestry. Maybe you'll be surprised and the little side missions in "Realm" and "North Star" and "Extinction" will come back to be a larger part of the overall arc.
Before ENT was developing any concerted, focused story, the complaint was that they were wandering aimlessly and oh how we wished for the kind of slow, delicately-woven arcs of DS9. ENT hasn't risen to DS9 quality yet, but the show is better this season and now that they are finally doing just that, people are complaining that it isn't over fast enough!
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It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
Halen. "The Dream is Over."
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Steve, the problem is that we aren't talking about a successful show that has gone on for 6 seasons like DS9 - we are talking about a show that has sucked since day 1 and is in it's third season, with rumours already stating that the show probably won't survive past a 4th season (again, true or not true, it doesn't really matter to me anymore). Even if it's not true, with the poor ratings and general poor stories all across the board, don't you think it should speed up? DS9 could take it takes it's time - I enjoyed the characters so much that it didn't really matter what they were doing. There were very few episodes I never liked on DS9. This show has struggled again and again with lack of direction and poor storytelling Steve. You can't honestly believe that they are moving too slow. They haven't done anything in the first 2 seasons and they haven't done much in season 3. What have they done Steve?
I'm tired Steve. I cannot give it any more chances. It had more lives than a cat as far as I am concerned.
The Trekweb poll, with a large sample size, has voiced its opinion and disagrees with you, Deus. More people have rated Chosen Realm as a "10-Excellent" than any other rating. If it was just one or two people I could overlook this as statistical error, but I think given the large number of viewers who have seen and judged the episode, that perhaps the majority feel that not only is this episode NOT bad, but one of the best episodes made. Polls don't lie.
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"We are ALL Hezbollah."
-- Data's stirring rallying cry from his famous post, and quite possibly the next catchy slogan in the elections this November
LET THE TRUTH BE HEARD!!!
I'm Berman My Man, official Voice of the Great Left(TM) and I approve of this message.
Ooh. Nice review Deus! I think this is possibly the best review of yours I've read. Some apt points and conjecture. :)
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"Unless we learn to live together as brothers [and sisters] we will die together as fools." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I wouldn't say it's my best review, that would probably be Voyager's The Void or Enterprise's Fight or Flight, I just try and systematically analyze what goes wrong or right in an episode and lay it out as clearly as I can.
It works for some people and doesn't work for others...what can I do (-:
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I don't typically read your reviews, to be honest. But out the bunch I've read, I liked this one.
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"Unless we learn to live together as brothers [and sisters] we will die together as fools." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
I was reading Deus' review and had a flashback to a wine tasting tour. There I was, riding the bus with twenty wine know-it-alls, who could describe a beverage in a multitude of ways, and they were proud of it. After several stops, the know-it-alls were having no fun what so ever, but I enjoyed the ride as the sunshine played between the leaves. Do you drink wine to pick it apart, or enjoy the company of those around you?
Like beefies, I watched this ep with my son, and it provided an opportunity for us to talk about religion and how adherence to dogma can cause needless conflict on our planet. We talked about the examples, both obvious and not. We discussed the role of bullies who are in positions of authority, and how they use and abuse their power.
We also noted, the bat was neat, that the villains should have know what the transporter was for, that T'Pol should have kicked more butt and the display screens for ENTERPRISE are more helpful to the story than in previous Trek programs.
I taped the episode. When TOS appears on DVD by season, I'll share "Battlefield" with my kids and we'll compare notes. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the season.
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Quote:
I taped the episode. When TOS appears on DVD by season, I'll share "Battlefield" with my kids and we'll compare notes. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the season.
You may find that TOS "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" is NOT, IMHO, what people claim it is in terms of comparing to ENT "Chosen Realm". I literally just got done rewatching "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" from my tape and IMHO, it really doesn't compare... at all. LOL
I know that alot of people have pointed to the end of Battlefield in comparison to the end of "Chosen Realm" (which is probably the only thing that could even remotely be compared). But even there, the ONLY similarity was that both worlds were destroyed by their own people over an irretractable principle. As it was, the 2 aliens in Battlefield had been in this chase for 50,000 years and had obviously not been back home not once during that time. Plus both were higher beings with telekinetic and other powers.
Once they have arrived at their planet Spock ticks off how the large cities were "uninhabited", that the "traffic systems were [are] barren of traffic", and how there were "vast numbers of unburied corpses in all cities" and that there were "no sapient lifeforms registering at all", etc. And Kirk asks in disbelief whether all the people were dead. And Spock responds in the affirmative, adding that they had anihilated each other. And the antagonists also ask in disbelief "all dead?" and Spock responds in the affirmative to both. At that point, the 2 antagonists begin physically attacking each other with even more hatred despite Kirk's admonishments to stop... And then after Lokai runs off the bridge and Bele chases him through the ship one last time (while their running through the corridors is overlayed on top of a montage of destruction scenes that either they are imagining or that we the audience are being shown to underscore the obvious...;-)) , the 2 eventually beam down to their desolate planet and continue the chase there. And as the conclusion, when the question was asked by Uhura to Kirk whether he supposed that their hate was all they had, Kirk responds "No, but that's all they have left". Ship leaves on its way back to Starbase 4. End of ep.
In "Chosen Realm", the antagonists are ferried to their home planet and they stare out at the destruction in disbelief while Archer comments: "From what we've been able to learn, this happened 8 months ago. Both sides have been decimated. There are no major cities left. Millions... are dead. Your faith was going to bring peace? Here it is." End of ep.
I think the rather dated ;-) TOS "The Way to Eden" might be a better comparison to "Chosen Realm" with respect to how obsession and fanaticism (no matter what it is of and how well-meaning it might be to the one who is obssessed and those who follow that person) often leads to unfortunate consequences... Sortof like how Sisko stated in DS9 "In the Pale Moonlight" about how his father once said that "the road to hell is paved in good intentions.". ;-)
"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" was... well... sortof a literal play on the stage (which was how Gorshin and his co-star played it). A bit... not a bit... VERY over-dramatic and over the top. But it does have a theme of hate which is a small part of what "Chosen Realm" focused on (and only mainly in the last half and at the end). However in Battlefield, what was very unique here was the camerawork and the build up of tension with respect to when Kirk calls Bele's bluff about blowing up Enterprise rather than letting this alien continue to control the ship. And the famous destruct sequence is done marvelously - and was copied almost precisely some 15 years later in "ST: The Search for Spock", except that Chekov fills in for Spock since Spock is obviously indisposed. ;-)
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"I think the show talked to people through the characters. They're stories that speak to the heart. They talk about love, they talk about friendship, they talk about loyalty, they talk about patriotism, exploration, curiosity, reaching out... And I think all those things still touch people. Even when you look at a 30-year old show, it still has something to say." - D.C. Fontana, Sci Fi Channel Special Edition TOS 1998
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"If the season finale involves the re-built USS Reliant coming back in time to the 21st Century crewed by Moogie, Dr. Selar, Morn, Transporter Chief Kyle, and the Salt Vampire, then we'll know that Coto has gone too far." - tomba1701
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If you just want someone to tell you that the episode was great regardless of the details, then why bother reading a review? And why bother to stop by, read a review just to post a smug comment on how reviewing things is pointless and you just need to learn to enjoy them?
I'm happy you could use this as an oppurtunity to talk to your son about religion and dogma, but many viewers would like to have an episode of ideas geared to a somewhat older demographic and level of understanding than to children.
The episode sucked. For most of the plot execution reasons Deus identified but moreso for the attempts at reflecting current sociopolitical events.
The aliens portrayed were a very clearly identifiable religion, from the suicide bombings, to the anger at Enterprise for desecrating the holy places of worship and pilgrimage by going inside them, to the alien leader condemning unbelievers to death, to the moderates disagreeing with the interpretation of their leader and having and abortion, which are banned in their religion.
Enterprise then, was presumably representing the nation which was attacked unprovoked, and was only out there trying to prevent future attacks.
If you're presuming to reflect reality, please do reflect reality.
Enterprise should have been shown as destroying half a dozen planets in response to that line across the equator. Presumably in an attempt to reflect justifiable regrets, what the alien leader did cite was Archer's torture of one person.
The aliens leader should have been shown as a renegade, and not the leader and representative of the entire people. The moderates should have been shown as the majority of the people, and not a couple of muted sympathisers.
Through the course of the episode, other stuff that rankled was the alien's painfully obvious ill-understanding of the world enterprise is in, and the trivialisation of their faith.
If you're subtly advocating peace, surely you neednt belittle any side to intellectual non-entities. You may think they are, but then again, if you're advocating rapproachment why even cause offence? Peace is a powerful enough cause to be argued from a neutral stance and still win.
Speaking from the perspective, presumably, of that moderate in the alien race currently aboard the enterprise, i'd like you to know that this peace loving alien and other peace loving aliens who watched the episode with him were all deeply offended.
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...that would mean that the U.S. turned Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Afganistan, Syria, and Lybia into basketball courts by dropping hundreds of nuclear warheads on the. That's as far as I'll let that analogy slide, because there really is hardly any connection between the W.O.T. and this episode.
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"A billion robot lives are about to be extinguished! Oh, the Jedis are going to feel this one..."
-Hubert Farnsworth (Futurama: Crimes of the Hot)
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"The Andorian Mining Consortium runs from no one!"
-Shran (ENT: Proving Ground)
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nor is the episode an analogy to the War on Terror. In point of fact the aliens don't really care about Enterprise except as a means to an end in their own internal theological conflict. Aside from the suicide bombers, the other stuff you cited would be part of just about any fanatical sect.
As far as your political interpretation goes. I have no particular interest in getting into this argument here. But the US response to 9/11 was quite moderate, firm opposition to islamic extremism is indeed something we get from only a few muted sympathizers.
"Speaking from the perspective, presumably, of that moderate in the alien race currently aboard the enterprise, i'd like you to know that this peace loving alien and other peace loving aliens who watched the episode with him were all deeply offended."
Great now Enterprise isn't offending real viewers but fictional viewers too. Where will it end?
this has to be the first time that I actually stopped watching a new episode of Enterprise. About 20 minutes in, I realized that even though there was a nice attempt at some current social commentary, there wasn't going to be much that was outstanding about this episode. There have been countless trek episodes where aliens take over the ship. In this case, adding relgious fanatics didn't add much. And the alien guy blowing himself up was a sad attempt to try to draw parralels to muslim extremism.
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Scientists discover the world that exists;
engineers create the world that never was.
-Theodore von Kármán
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It's not even much of an attempt at social commentary, it's more like a fragment that doesn't really connect to anything meaningful. I mean let's look at the real roots and motivations of extremism instead of just trotting out some fanatics because they're fanatics. Why are they fanatics, well because they're fanatics.
I seem to have appreciated this episode more than most posters. Deus makes some apt criticisms and I had three myself, two minor and one major, but in general thought "Chosen Realm" wasn't a steaming heap o' dung.
Minor #1: like others, I wish T'Pol were depicted as the strong and capable officer she should be. She could have coolly neck-pinched the guy, thrown another across the bridge, and still been subdued by a phaser--wouldn't have changed the plot at all, but would have helped build the character a lot.
Minor #2: by the 22nd century, wouldn't humanity have learned to back up its hard drive?
Major: Archer's an idiot. Once his enemy's religious fundamentalism becomes clear, why keep arguing with him? Why not at least pretend to go along? Why not sit down and say something like, "We're new here, we meant no offense but acted out of ignorance, why don't you tell me more about your beliefs?" His goal should be to save his crew and ship so it can complete its mission, not score debate points.
However, as I've mentioned in the past, Enterprise is the first Trek series I've watched with my kids, which helps me see it more freshly through their eyes. They've never seen "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" and found the climax a sobering stunner. I admit I found it very effective as well.
I'm also puzzled by those holding up "Battlefield" as some sort of paragon that "Chosen Realm" fails to live up to. I love "Battlefield" and consider it quintessential Star Trek, but isn't it generally regarded as one of the least subtle bang-you-over-the-head-with-a-message episodes ever? I mean, in hindsight, isn't a story in which the black-white guy hates the white-black guy (one of them played by Frank Gorshin, for goodness sake) kind of a dated 1960s embarrassment?
In that light, I thought "Chosen Realm" was a more subtle and interesting take on the idea, with a sympathetic villain (well-played, you could almost like the guy). I liked the transporter, liked the bat, liked the Instant Messaging, and didn't find the humorous touches out of place. I liked the depiction of a religious schism caused by a disagreement over one day: no more ridiculous than existing religions arguing over the consumption or pork or the symbolism of Communion. I liked that Archer didn't forget his dead crewperson, but seemed to feel her loss intensely. I liked the way Mayweather looked for T'Pol's approval after each demand.
I'd call it a good but not great episode: 3 out of 5.
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Battlefield had plenty of silliness but it also had intensity and a disturbing force despite the silliness of the premise. And like it or not the half races got viewer attention in the way that nothing on Chosen Realm could. Like a lot of TOS episodes it worked despite the absurdities because it clearly believed in itself and was passionate about its own message.
There's no real passion or belief in Realm, there isn't even much force behind the message. And Realm is far less subtle, since at least Battlfield could say 'A Plague on Both Your Houses' which was at least somewhat daring, Chosen Realm does nothing but say that religious fanatcism is bad and phones it in to boot.
Just a minor, minor nit, O. Deus. You said:
Certainly the notion that a starship would build a special device for executions on board a ship that doesn't have all that many people on it to begin with should have raised some serious suspicions.
In the episode, Archer actually said that it was a device used to dispose of hazardous materials, and on rare occasions, it was used as an execution device. It was not built as a "special device for executions."
I enjoyed "Chosen Realm." It certainly didn't deserve the poor word of mouth I've been hearing. Comparisons to "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" aside, I found it a poignant and apt allegory to the religious fanaticism that's tearing our own world apart.
Brilliant move on Archer's part, using the transporter to simulate his own "death."
The only thing I really couldn't swallow was how easily the MACOs were pacified at the beginning. For crying out loud, one of the reasons why they're on board is to prevent ENTERPRISE from being commandeered! Yet another story problem "conveniently" swept under the rug.
And I wish they'd stop portraying T'Pol as someone who's easily pushed around. She's a Vulcan, for pete's sake! She has several times the strength of humans.
Mayweather and Sato need more to do. Say it with me now: Mayweather and Sato need more to do! Mayweather and Sato need more to do! I pity Anthony Montgomery and Linda Park. They have to show up for work every day just to sit around and be part of the set dressing. Sheesh, we came here to actually act, Mr. Berman and Mr. Braga! Please don't treat us like Uhura and Sulu. We'd like to put our acting classes to good use.
Anyhow, it's nice to have STAR TREK ENTERPRISE back! I'm really excited for the second half of the season.
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LORD EDZO
Imperious Leader - Paramount Ruler - Master and Commander
I wasn't able to watch Enterprise last night even though I left work early to make sure to be home in time to see it. It was canceled in Dallas in favor of a local broadcast of the Mavericks v. 76ers game, which was also shown on ESPN2. The UPN station (21) did not make an announcement if and when this Enterprise episode would be broadcast.
Because I didn't see the episode, I didn't read Deus's review. Too bad, because whether I agree or disagree with his comments, I always find Deus's reviews thought-provoking and entertaining.
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UPN finally broadcast Enterprise around 12:20 afte the basketball game went in to overtime twice. I was so tired then that I pushed the "record" button of my VCR & went to bed. FYI, Channel 21 will be re-broadcasting Enterprise again Saturday night. Tv Guide says 10:30 but I would start watching for it around 10:00. It could be shown any time between then & who knows when. You know how quirky Channel 21 is.
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Thanks, dewleaf. I'll try to catch the episode on Saturday night if I'm home and remember. I'm used to watching it on Wednesday nights, so I was surprised when it was postponed. I wonder why 21 didn't run a crawl while the game was on explaining when the episode would be shown?
Oh well, 21 is, as you say, quircky. That is why I think the argument has merit that, if Enterprise were picked up by CBS, it would fare better in the ratings. Enterprise would have more stability at the network and local levels.
Well, they didn't really try to disguise this episode as being about religion, did they? TOS would have.
Anyway, the thing I did like about it was how it portrayed religious people. I'm not even talking about fundamentalists here, either. Despite a complete lack of evidence, they still hold to their beliefs no matter what. Having a debate with someone who's very religious is impossible. How do you debate someone who claims to know the truth and yet has absolutely no evidence, doesn't need any, and doesn't use any sort of logic in defending his/her beliefs? It's ridiculous to debate these people - in fact, it's a waste of time.
So I'm going now.
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My disappointment with this episode has nothing to do with the story, but the series utter lack to support and explain items in the Trek universe that were always part of background, I thought this series was a prequel of the Trek to come. I find this most irksome.
For instance the could have had I few lines of dialoge with Archer insisting that a self-destruct sequence be built into the ship. This way if the ship is taken over it cannot be used as a weapon by a band of aliens to gain the upper hand on technology.
I can't quite believe that by the 22nd century no passwords or secuity is built into the ships computers or that deleted data cannot be retrived.
As I recall on several eposides on TOS, STNG, Voyager when crew members are given "imoral orders", they stand at riged attention even under threat of death and refuse to coporate. Perhaps they could have used this episode to explain this stance.
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Although you may not see heads and tails of religion, it doesn't mean there is no sense if any of it. You just haven't found it.
If you're not willing to listen to religious people but you blame them for holding on to their beliefs no matter what, then you are reacting just like those you accuse. You hold on to your belief and shut them out.
It seems unlikely that you've never met someone who is very religious and who knows what he/she believes in, and are open to discuss it, in a friendly manner.
The mindset between religious and non-religious people can be very different, and one must try to understand the other. Disrespect is not going to help. I have yet to see "Chosen Realm" but if it disrespects religion, I must wonder why Coto and B&B are so upset.
Somehow it indicates a complete lack of interest towards the matter, thus they take the easy way out and classifies it all as 'bad' just because they don't understand. Or maybe they think they understand all too well, although they are not religious and couldn't find heads and tails of it.
I thought it was a pretty good episode, but not great. The idea of the organic explosives was very cool. I also liked how the religious factions were doing all this fighting over such a minor defference in belief. The episode seemed like it had something to say, but never really did. I couldn't keep my mind from wandering at times. Archer's trick with the transporter was very nice though, a real Kirk-like move and shows some quick thinking on his part. I would have thought Reed would have more to do considering he is in charge of security. I guess that's why he got locked up first. Still, it wasn't bad and the end was a nice, if slightly expected, twist.
Just some stylistic issues in the review that annoy the hell out of me.
"There's a strong performance by both Archer and the Prenom."
Is is that hard to actually use the actors' names? The characters did not give a performance, the actors did. Also along the same lines:
"As such, he's closer to Kurtwood Smith's 'Annorax' than INSURRECTION's 'Ru'afo'."
Interesting, I've never seen this "Kurtwood Smith" movie. Seriously, though, that should be either the episode name, or "Insurrection" should be "F. Murray Abraham."
Anyhow, done nitpicking. The review was spot on: this was one of those "deep" episodes that wasn't. As Deus' notes, it really just confuses religion with religious fanaticism, and really does a bad job of both.
I am going to have to agree with Deus on this one. I was anxiously awaiting the beginning of the second part of this season and was ultimately let down. I never once felt like I was watching a classic, or something special. Not that I need to every episode, but this one just never seemed to have real spirit. It never had a point to prove or a message to send. It didn't even further the Sphere plot that much, I mean, we know they were a religious symbol for a society that is now pretty much non-existant now. Woop dee.
Anyway, good review Deus, I agree.
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"Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
-- Winston Churchill
(Picture Main Street Salt Lake City UT, Circa 1900)
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