Nov 17 | Originally hired as co-executive producer to help with the second half of the show's first season, Kevin Murphy has now taken the reins of Caprica, the Battlestar Galactica prequel on Syfy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He now serves as an executive producer along with Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson and oversees the day-to-day functions of the show.
Nov 12 | Star Trek star Zachary Quinto is loosely attached to star in the romantic dramedy Whirligig, reports Risky Business.Quinto would play the lead role in the independent Canadian film, which is aiming to shoot early next year. The movie centers on a man who, in a misguided attempt to woo an older woman, befriends the woman's adopted son.Chaz Thorne is directing the pic, based on a screenplay by Michael Amo, creator of the Canadian supernatural series "The Listener."
Nov 11 | The CNS Foundation, is hosting an on-line charity auction at www.charitybuzz.com. One of the items they are auctioning is a signed movie poster of the new Star Trek movie which has all the cast members and writers. The president of our organization is Carol Abrams, JJ's mother, and she arranged for the donation from Bad Robot Production Company. J.J. Abrams is also a major donor to their organization. The funds raised will go to help find a cure to neurological disorders in children. The auction link is here.
Nov 10 | Candice Bergen, Charles Lisanby, Don Pardo, Gene Roddenberry, Tom and Dick Smothers and Bob Stewart have been selected as the next inductees into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a Jan. 20 ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel. "This year's inductees have challenged and shaped popular culture, changed television for the better and entertained us royally while doing so," TV Academy Chairman-CEO John Shaffner said. More info at the Hollywood Reporter
Nov 08 | Unreality-SF.net has interviewed Star Trerk author James Swallow about some of his upcoming projects. He talks about Titan: Synthesis and Seven Deadly Sins: The Slow Knife, as well as some forthcoming Doctor Who and Stargate stories.
Synopsis: Archer brings Surak's teachings to Vulcan, T'Pol leaves her husband and Trip annoys both Andorians and Vulcans.
Review: The final third part of the Vulcan arc is the most action packed of the three paying off on much of the material that had been set up by the far slower and often more turgid previous two episodes. Ultimately a lot of the action scenes such as Archer fighting the Vulcans as T'Pol is captured are superfluous and really don't do much for the story but they still speed up the pace and make the episode flow quicker at the very least as a substitute for much of the pointless arguments that characterized Awakening. The highlight of the episode though is unsurprisingly enough Shran who thanks to Jeffrey Combs always wonderful performances immediately brings life to any scene or episode.
Indeed Shran's scenes with Ambassador Soval are the most compelling moments that Kir'Shara or any episode in the three part arc or for that matter this season have to offer and are highly reminiscent of Garak's interrogations of Odo. This is of course somewhat ironic since these scenes also stray from the episode's format of 'Archer with Surak in his Head Saves Vulcan' but at the same time point the way to something far deeper which is Andorian and Vulcan reconciliation. The reconciliation of a clash of opposing philosophies between Andorian aggression and self-centeredness and Vulcan non-violence and self-awareness would have made for some compelling material. Particularly as Soval appears to be the last Vulcan on Enterprise actually acting like a Vulcan instead of a human with pointy ears.
Unfortunately any of this is scrapped in favor of the culmination of four years of evil Vulcan plots on Enterprise with the most evil Vulcan of all as V'Las continues behaving like a completely demented and unhinged villain. He's not acting like a Vulcan or even a Romulan but every villain cliche in the book right down to detaining a minister who protests against his actions. And of course his downfall comes in cliched villain style as Archer and T'Pau saunter into the room and put everything to rights in a matter of minutes. Sense this makes little, as Yoda might say.
First we begin with the premise that the Vulcan High Command completely warped Vulcan philosophy. How long this has been going on for is entirely unknown but since Vulcans aren't disagreeing with them combined with the Vulcan lifespan one would suspect a figure of at least five centuries or maybe a thousand years. A few Romulan collaborators fail to explain all this. Furthermore this twist ending dodges the complex questions the episode posed initially about the authenticity of the transmission of religious teachings and the nature of Vulcans. It reduces a complex philosophical debate to a matter of punching out or Vulcan neck pinching the right guy at the right time. And thus complex religious and philosophical problems are resolved.
In Awakening Surak claimed that even Syran himself was too corrupted to properly be the guardian of his teachings, by Kir'Shara simply flashing some of Surak's teaching on a holographic screen was enough to end all the violence. And what key element does Archer bring to all this that he needed to be selected above anyone else to be the savior of Vulcan morality? Well he punches people a lot. He also seems to have little trouble defeating Vulcans in hand to hand combat despite the complete strength inequities. Rather than any kind of revelation or meaningful conclusion all Kir'Shara really offers is a standard villain's downfall plot that in this case doesn't even make a whole lot of sense.
It remains then for the showdown between the Andorian and Vulcan fleets to offer what little suspense the episode has to offer. And here Jeffery Coombs and Gary Graham's performances continue to stand out and even Trip does a surprisingly competent job in command. It's possible to quibble that humans are once again getting foolishly involved in a conflict between two species, either of which could blow the Enterprise to bits, but the door closed on that particular objection years ago. Still Enterprise attacking a Vulcan cruiser, considering the disparity in firepower hangs on the lunatic fringe. As it taking sides in a conflict in which neither side is all that clean.
All in all Kir'Shrara contributes some interesting elements to the Enterprise reinterpretation of the STAR TREK universe. Its touches of continuity drawn on the STAR TREK universe are nice as are the attempts to bring Enterprise continuity closer in line to the continuity of the STAR TREK universe. Nevertheless the three-part arc suffers from serious writing handicaps and the Augments arc did a far more credible job dramatically because ultimately it knew what it was about. It was about the tragic failure of a single man. What is the Vulcan arc about? Religious or philosophical truth? Archer learning to accept Vulcans? T'Pol learning to accept her mother? Discovering that T'Pau liked to wear gaudy makeup when she was young? The relationship between Humans and Vulcans? Vulcans and Andorians? All of these and more are present and none of these are properly executed or concluded.
Instead the three-part arc essentially consists of the search for a magical artifact that will set all problems to right. This is a rather simple and classic story. However its execution is crude and stumbles repeatedly. The discovery of the artifact is repeatedly dragged out and its use is too simplistic and anti-climactic. The Augments arc was a tragedy. The Vulcan arc veers between Archer Jones and the Holographic Vulcan Tablets of Wisdom and muddled and unfocused character melodrama. Neither makes proper use of Vulcan and Vulcans. Neither addresses the philosophical issues the episodes try fitfully to raise. Archer Jones and the Holographic Vulcan Tablets of Wisdom occasionally makes for entertaining viewing, particularly in The Forge and Kir'Shara. But as Yoda might or might not say, yet not in Archer punching people a lot does a good episode lie.
Finally continuity is important but continuity cannot and does not substitute for good writing, for good drama or for a good episode. Continuity is like the binding of a book. Without it all you have are loose pages. But if there's nothing worth reading on the pages, what use is the continuity?
Next week: Super-intelligent and genetically engineered reruns.
I grew up during the duck and cover '60s where the world was going to come to an end from a nuclear bomb and we still had black-out shades in the classrooms that got pulled down during detention drills, where the school itself was a designated "Bomb Shelter", and where we were also told to either sit under the desk or go out in the hallway with a book and sit along the wall. This was the time of the "Cold War" and the Vietnam War.
Is there more media out there pimping it? Of course. Do children get assaulted by it a bit more. Naturally. Do those children focus on current events and the horrors of the world in their leisure time more than children did in previous eras? No. If anything, all the TV "choice" allows kids to actually AVOID the news very easily. Back during the '60s, TV didn't even run 24 hours/day. At midnight up popped the "Test pattern" after they did the national anthem.
I have 15 nieces and nephews aged 10 - 29 and for the most part, the kids among them are STILL kids. They play with their PS2s and Gameboys, want the latest CD of their favorite group, are trying to save up to buy a car, once they PASS the driver's exam... ;-), either think girls are "stupid" or "cute", lament about using up all their minutes on the cell phone, and want a ride to the mall to see the latest flick.
I really think that kids are more adaptable then one wants to let on and they pay some attention, but there are so many cooler things for them to pay attention to that they really don't absorb it as much as one might think. ;-) And your thinking of "terrorism in your backyard now" is because why? You're an adult NOW. But the terrorism has always been there. Back in 1970 when I took my first trip to England, it was right in the midst of a new form of terrorism known as "skyjacking" (now just called "hijacking" of planes). ;-) And so there in 1970 at Gatwick Airport, I and everyone else experienced the type of security that is now in place in the U.S. - where everyone was patted down and searched upon entering the country of England (men in one line, women and children in another - with correspondingly sexed security agents doing the searches), and where we were told that plain-clothes U.S. Marshals were flying on our plane because of the threat.
That wasn't in 2001. That was in 1970.
And I think TNG became popular because of alot of the negativity in the news even then, where the roarin' Reagan '80s came crashing down all around leading to a recession.
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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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