Geekery | Amy C. Shaw

Star Trek Voyager Season One: My Top 5 Fave Episodes

February 6, 2016 • 2 Comments

As my husband and I are going through our second full watch of Star Trek as a couple, I thought it would be fun to report on the highlights along the way. So I decided to copy the same format as Charlene at Bookish Whimsy, who is going through her first-ever run of Star Trek and sharing her favorite episodes for each season. To compare, see her favorite episodes of Voyager season one.

The first season of Voyager is a short one, so I was going to do a top 3, but then I found it was actually pretty easy for me to come up with a top 5. After the huge significance of the pilot, not a lot happens in this season; the best is yet to come for Voyager.

5. Heroes and Demons

This is the Doctor’s first real episode and first time experiencing life beyond sick bay. It was good to see him wrestle with, and then embrace, this new experience.

4. Prime Factors

This hedonistic planet (that is not Risa) is interesting to me, but what gets me most in this episode is the end! I don’t want to spoil it, but let’s just say a character makes a surprising decision!

3. State of Flux

This is another plot twist episode where you find out someone isn’t all that he or she said they were. Dun dun DUN!

2. Caretaker

Now that I have rewatched every Star Trek pilot except Enterprise’s, which bored me to tears the first time, I think I can stand by my opinion that it is the best pilot in Star Trek. I don’t love everything about it, but it raises the stakes a ton and really sets the tone of the show from the get-go.

1. Eye of the Needle

I really like this episode and I don’t know how to pinpoint why. I mean, you know they’re not actually going to make it home, but there’s the angle of hope that maybe they’ll get to send out messages. I won’t go any further about the plot, but will also add that I really like the Romulan character in this one. Everything in Star Trek was often overblown with Klingons, or in DS9 Ferengi, but I always want more Romulans (thanks Enterprise for finally indulging me). They fascinate me.

If you’ve seen Voyager, what your favorite episodes of the first season?

Star Trek DS9 Season Two: My Top 5 Fave Episodes

December 2, 2015 • 2 Comments

OMG, stuff got real a lot quicker than I remembered! I knew that the end of season 2 was a real game-changer, but there were some good episodes all throughout season two that were good indicators of what DS9 would come to be known for. I’m so happy to be watching it again!

I had a really hard time choosing my five… two were really obvious favorites, and then after that I felt most of the other episodes were equally good! It doesn’t help I feel it’s been a while since I’ve watched some of these with TNG season 7 and live TV shows being watched in between episodes, so I did the best I could with trying to narrow it down. I wanted to be sure to note the honorable mentions, The Maquis Parts 1 and 2 and The Jem’Hadar, which set up a lot of what’s to come!

5. Whispers

O’Brien wonders why everyone on the station seems so wary of him. As he seeks out the truth, it turns out to be quite a surprise…

4. Necessary Evil

This one is interesting as we get a look back in time to how the station was during the Cardassian occupation, and specifically how Odo came into his role.

3. Tribunal

O’Brien must suffer! I have to say, this could have been interesting as two episodes, with more torture for O’Brien and a good B plot too, but what we got was interesting. It’s a look into the Cardassian judiciary system (which is terrible) and we learn a lot about O’Brien as a character.

2. The Wire

On my first watch of DS9, I didn’t like Garak until I watched this episode, and then everything about him made so much more sense and I finally understood him. I love seeing Bashir’s relentless efforts to help Garak in this episode. And we get this great line: “It’s all true… especially the lies.”

1. The Siege

This was the third episode of the season, and the first one that made me be like whoa, this is definitely feeling like DS9. There were some really funny moments, but also dark moments, and it doesn’t wrap up nicely like most Star Trek episodes before had.

What are your favorite episodes of Deep Space Nine season two?

Star Trek TNG Season 7: My Top 5 Fave Episodes

November 30, 2015 • 5 Comments

I have to say, I was kind of disappointed in TNG’s final season on this rewatch. I felt like many episodes reverted back to season one days (hello “Masks” and “Genesis”). However, there were some solid episodes, I do like the final scene of the series, and I liked how there was a little bit of interconnection with DS9 (more obvious to me this time around since I was watching them together). Here are my top 5 for TNG’s final season…

5. Thine Own Self

This episode isn’t a real standout, but I enjoyed seeing Data having to figure things out on his own, with alien people, when he had no memories and many were afraid of him. It was definitely an interesting look cultural interference and a good character study of Data.

4. All Good Things…

The TNG finale is mostly good. The time-hopping storyline is both interesting and a bit convoluted. But I do love the message at the end that we can do things today to change our future. (BTW, my favorite part besides the ending is Data’s future… with all those CATS! Darn you, Nemesis!)

3. Gambit, Parts 1 and 2

I like seeing Picard in a different element in these episodes, sort of like in last season’s Starship Mine.

2. Lower Decks

This episode is a very character-driven episode, but instead of spotlighting a cast character, it focuses on secondary characters, some that we have never even met before. The ending is also pretty sad for TNG, and feels kind of DS9ish overall.

1. Parallels

Sometimes parallel universe storylines frustrate me, but this one is interesting to me as it deals more with actual multiverse theory instead of one alternate timeline. And it’s so easy for me to paint Worf with one brush, but to see so many facets of him in this episode and for them to all feel true was really neat.

What are your favorite episodes of TNG season 7?

Star Trek TNG Season 6: My Top 5 Fave Episodes

August 24, 2015 • 7 Comments

In case you missed it, I did my Top 5 of Season 5 on Tumblr during my hiatus.

On this rewatch of Star Trek, we’re watching the episodes in the order they were aired, meaning that this season we started incorporating Deep Space Nine. This meant that it took us a longer time to finish season 6 (it feels like ages since I saw the early episodes of the season!), and it also meant that I anticipated Deep Space Nine nights and not TNG nights… oops… That makes me sad because I do love TNG, especially these later seasons, but I just love DS9 so much and have been so happy to see all the characters again. It’s going to be even worse when we’re watching Voyager episodes too… But on my with my favorites of the season! (Note: Tapestry is an honorable mention. Even though I don’t generally like those “It’s A Wonderful Life” plot elements or Q, I do think it’s a worthwhile episode.)

5. A Firstful of Datas

I don’t particularly care for Lore (or B-4 from Nemesis, shudder), but any other time Brent Spiner gets to deviate from the typical characterization for Data, I’m pretty happy. In this one, something goes haywire and Data is all over the holodeck, but not in typical Data fashion. I also enjoy seeing Troi fitting in well with the Wild West theme of the holodeck program.

4. Starship Mine

Picard kicks some butt in this episode! It’s nice to see him deviate from his normal behavior, but it still feels like Picard. I’m a little surprised he doesn’t seem more remorseful about killing the baddies, but they were after him! Also noteworthy: Data’s attempt at small talk.

3. Rascals

This episode is just plain fun, and the actress who plays younger Guinan seriously NAILS her character role. There is definitely some suspension ofdisbelief in how bad things get on the Enterprise before “children” have to save the day, but still a fun episode nonetheless.

2. Frame of Mind

This is one of those psychological episodes of TNG that just really surprised me. Riker is playing the role of a character in an insane asylum for a play on the Enterprise, yet also finds himself in an actual insane asylum, being told this he has delusions of life on a starship. My biggest complaint about this episode is that it wasn’t a two-parter that delved deeper into the story, and that none of the ramifications were ever shown.

1. Chain of Command Parts 1 & 2

These episodes are just phenomenal; they truly make the psychology minor in me geek out. In fact, I wrote a post a while ago comparing Picard’s torture to the torture in 1984. THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS!

What are your favorite episodes of TNG season six?

Why You Should Watch Deep Space Nine if You Love Mistborn, & Vice Versa

August 10, 2015 • 7 Comments

As I was reading The Hero of Ages I suddenly became struck with the similarities between the Mistborn books and my favorite TV show, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. On the surface, it can be hard to miss. Mistborn is a fantasy set in a made-up world, and there are people who are able to draw powers from metals. Deep Space Nine is science fiction, set on a space station that is next to made-up worlds, but many characters come from Earth and none of them have special powers, though there are aliens who have unique abilities. And yet, I found some themes in both that I could not ignore the similarities between, and I feel that if you enjoyed them in one of these stories, you’ll enjoy them in the other.

Overall Character & Story Arcs

Before we get into the common themes, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that both Mistborn and DS9 have strong arcs for a wide variety of characters and for the story as a whole. Garak, who is in only 37 episodes of DS9, is a fan favorite who plays a significant role in the show. Nog, who is only in 47 episodes, starts off in DS9 as an annoying kid and ends up with a profound character arc, and there’s even an episode dedicated to him in the seventh season.

In a similar fashion, while the trilogy mostly focuses on Vin, Elend, and Sazed, and there are important secondaries such as Breeze, Ham, etc., and there are characters who are present in one or two of the previous books who go through big changes in the final book, such as TenSoon and Spook.

Religion/Religious Icons Theme

In both DS9 and Mistborn, there is a definite theme of religion and religious icons. Deep Space Nine focuses on the faith of the Bajorian people; we are introduced to leaders of their faith and see how different they can be from one another, and Sisko, an outsider, is revered as their “emissary,” a religious icon.

In Mistborn, all religion died under the Lord Ruler, save for his. After he is overthrown, the Church of the Survivor is born, turning characters into religious icons, and in the end of the trilogy, without giving away too much, I’ll just say we see this really manifest, in a way much like it did in the Deep Space Nine finale.

Source

Shades of Gray, Particularly in War

Both DS9 and Mistborn also explore what it means to be a good man or woman, yet to have to also make tough decisions, to possibly kill, and to do things in war that you would normally not approve of. When I was reading The Hero of Ages and Elend struggled with decisions he made, I thought, wow, this is reminding me of In The Pale Moonlight. The season 6 episode of DS9 is one of my favorite in Star Trek, and I can’t imagine a fan of Mistborn not loving this episode, because it really explores the dark underbelly of the good guys.

Bittersweet End

Both of these endings will give you feels, both sad and sweet. They close some chapters but open up new beginnings and possibilities for many characters and really for the world the story is set in.

So seriously, if you’re a fan of one, you should really look into the other. They’re obviously different mediums, but both are fantastic stories. Deep Space Nine will not start off like Mistborn; it might even seem silly or just kind of OK to you at first, but I promise if you stick with it you’ll see all the things I’ve mentioned. And Mistborn is a slow burn of a book, taking its time to tell the story, but none of it feels unnecessary. Brandon Sanderson masterfully weaved together all the threads throughout the three books and leaves you without any confusion.

Are you a fan of one, or both, of these stories?

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