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. See her favorite episodes of Voyager season six.
This episode is a little silly, but it’s fun to see the Voyager crew in a new environment. The main plot follows Janeway’s romance with a holodeck character whose program she alters to better fit her needs (and to delete his wife!), which is slightly alarming for Janeway, but not outside of the realm of plausibility for her either.
After Seven identifies the ship’s resident misfits, Janeway takes them in for an away mission, to prove to them that they add value to the crew. What is supposed to be a simple away mission turns into a potentially life-threatening situation, and they all have to rely on each other more than ever anticipated. I really kind of liked the hypochondriac character on this episode; I would have liked to have seen more of him!
Episodes that take place entirely on the ship hardly ever catch my interest, but I love the way this episode is framed. Neelix proves to be quite the storyteller as he deflects the Borg kids’ questions about what is happening on Voyager by telling them a scary story, which may in fact be the truth of what is happening.
The concept behind this one is so fascinating: Voyager is trapped in a planet’s atmosphere for what feels like days for them, but for the people below, it’s centuries. If Voyager doesn’t act quickly enough, the people on the planet will soon have technology that outpaces their own.
I barely remembered this season finale (and part two season 7 opener) from my first watch of Voyager, but it was a stand-out episode for me this time. Though I do feel like Seven relaxes some after this episode, I would have liked to have seen her relax even more. She really seemed to thrive in the world she and some other Borg had created for themselves.
What are your favorite episodes of Voyager season six?
Several months ago, my husband and I were talking about startrek.com’s poll results of fans’ favorite top 10 episodes of all of Star Trek. I disagreed with some of the episodes and definitely the order, so my husband suggested I create a top 10 list favorite of each series, and then at the end of our current rewatch do my own top 10 of all the series. Since we finished DS9 semi-recently (I dragged my feet a little on this post), it’s time for my Top 10 of all DS9!
My honorable mention placement on this list won’t make sense if you look at my season 2 list, but I just had to go with my gut and what has stuck with me since finishing the series again. Also, my apologies to season 4, which really was fine.
A great, twisty season one offering that holds up in the overall canon of DS9 too.
9. Dr. Bashir, I Presume? (Season 5)
The one where we learn Dr. Bashir’s big secret and it changes how we view him as a character.
8. Past Tense (Season 3)
It amazes me how these episodes are still so relevant 22 years after they came out.
7. Extreme Measures (Season 7)
I really enjoy seeing what “extreme measures” Julian is willing to go to in this episode to cure Odo.
6. Badda Bing Badda Bang (Season 7)
All you could really ask for in a heist episode.
5. What You Leave Behind (Season 7)
A fitting and poignant ending for the series.
4. Far Beyond the Stars (Season 6)
So incredibly powerful. Literally everyone should watch this episode.
3. It’s Only a Paper Moon (Season 7)
All the feels, guys. All the feels. I love Nog’s arc so freaking much.
2. Trials and Tribble-ations (Season 5)
The perfect homage to my favorite episode of TOS.
1. In The Pale Moonlight (Season 6)
It was hard to choose between this and the former, but my gut said Pale Moonlight. It is just 100% Deep Space Nine and brilliance and I love it and its complexity.
If you are a fan of DS9, what are your favorite episodes of the series?
Sometimes there are side characters in the superhero story that really deserve their own chance to shine. These are the three that I would love to see get there own spotlight… in no particular order…
1. ROBIN John Blake
My husband and I recently rewatched the three movies of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, and it just confirmed what I’ve always wanted: to see Christopher Nolan turn Joseph Gordon-Levitt into Batman. So why do I love John Blake so much? He’s intelligent, resourceful, and brave. He isn’t dramatic and he doesn’t get distracted. I’m not saying he’s perfect, but… he’s pretty awesome. And he deserves his own trilogy! Step aside, Batfleck!
2. Peggy Carter
My love for Peggy Carter and my enthusiasm for the upcoming Agent Carter TV show is unending! I adore how she is feminine yet tough and able to handle herself. She grew to care for Steve for his courage and heart, and she possesses those qualities as well. And though it was hard, she was able to move past his death and accomplish great things. She’s amazing and totally deserves this show and I cannot WAIT!
3. Lady Sif
Lady Sif is awesome. More awesome than Jane, more awesome than Thor. She doesn’t need some silly hammer to knock down the enemy. She did appear in an episode of Agents of SHIELD, which was GREAT, but I could definitely use more Sif! A Sif movie? TV show? Even a one-shot! Just give me more SIF, please!
Which side character from a superhero story would you like to see in the spotlight?
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 five episodes for each season. To compare, see what she said about her top 5 favorite episodes of the first season of The Original Series.
5. Shore Leave
Aside from Kirk’s annoying old rival and old flame with bad fashion, this was a pretty entertaining episode that I remembered from the first time around, but did not remember being as entertained by it before as I was this time around. And it feels like a precursor to the Deep Space Nine episode “If Wishes Were Horses.”
4. Space Seed
I’ve technically seen Space Seed twice before this rewatch, once during my first watch of the series, and a second time before I rewatched Wrath of Khan one time. I wasn’t impressed with it either time. Quite frankly, though this is blasphemous to say as a Trek fan, The Wrath of Khan has never done a whole lot for me either. This time, I don’t know what happened, but I was WAY more into this episode. You know what I think it for me this time?
That’s right, Benedict Cumberbatch’s portrayal as Khan in Into Darkness made me appreciate Khan as a villain, because I found him to be so much more charismatic than Ricardo Montalban. YOU HEARD ME. I have said it and will not apologize for it. Benedict Cumberbatch is not the original Khan, and Montalban was a great Khan for the original series, but for me, I could relate to Cumberbath’s performance much more. I almost believed him in Into Darkness, even though I completely knew better! He really was tricky; not clearly the abusive jerk I found Montalban’s Khan to be. And yet, watching Space Seed again, I bought into it better, even though he wasn’t Cumberbatch. They’re both Khan and they play different dynamics of him and they both look so completely different but WHATEVER. It’s OK.
I got off on a tangent, and all that is just to say I never dreamed this would make my top five favorite episodes of season one. But it did.
3. The Menagerie
This is technically two episodes, but I’m counting them as one since they go together. Plus, they also feature the original Star Trek pilot, The Cage, which never aired. I technically like The Cage better since it’s one storyline instead of an interesting story within a convoluted storyline about Spock completely disregarding rules to help his old captain out, but again, since it’s not really part of season one, I’m going with The Menagerie instead. I have always found the idea thought-provoking: what if you were offered the chance to live out fantasies for the rest of your life? They wouldn’t be real, but they would be everything you wanted. Would you accept it, or fight back for reality? Those kinds of questions are why I love Star Trek to begin with.
2. The Naked Time
I just love this episode because it is so much fun. Sulu runs around like crazy fencing, Spock has emotions, an officer named O’Riley serenades the whole ship with his off-key rendition of an Irish tune. Sometimes, you just need a fun episode. However, there is also a pretty poignant scene with Spock when he breaks down, full of emotion.
1. The City on the Edge of Forever
How Kirk, Spock, and McCoy end up back in time is a little convoluted, but really, there is just something special about this episode. (Charlene agrees because it’s her #1 pick too!) Again there’s a question: Would you allow events to unfold as they must to save millions, if it means watching someone you love suffer? It’s good stuff, people.
And just for fun, here are my two favorite aliens featured in season 1…
That’s right folks, it’s a dog wearing an “alien” costume and (presumably) a man underneath some sort of lasagna-looking rug (I refer to this creature affectionately as Pasta Puppy) that are my favorite aliens of season one. Forget the introduction of the Romulans or the Klingons and forget the Gorn. This is where it’s at.
I also wanted to say that this season my favorite character has actually turned out to be Scotty! After my first time watching the original series I really loved Spock, and Spock is great, but Scotty didn’t take crap from anyone in season one, which I respect.
If you’re a Star Trek fan, let me know what your favorite episodes of the original series, season one, are!
Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is my Top Ten Things On My Reading Wishlist (if you could make authors write about these things you would. Could be a specific type of character, an issue tackled, a time period, a certain plot, etc.)
Seeing as I do write, while compiling this list I wondered: Why aren’t I writing these stories? And the answer is, I haven’t been so particularly inspired to yet. But who knows, maybe one day I will! But in the meantime, if someone else wants to write on of these stories, that’s be great because I would love to read them! This week’s list is in no particular order, and all these are YA story ideas unless otherwise specified.
1. WWII Historical Fiction Set in America
There’s been a fair share of WWII historical fiction lately, set in other countries: The Book Thief, Between Shades of Gray, Code Name Verity, etc. And I’m grateful for these, because for those of us who do live in America, sometimes we need to get outside of our USA bubble and see how the rest of the world sees things. But remember Molly from American Girl?
I’ve been interested in WWII history for a long time, so even as a girl I was fascinated by the story of a girl my age and how she coped with the war at home in America. I would absolutely love to see a YA story like this!
2. Story Set in Monaco
Once upon a time, I saw something about the country of Monaco on TV, and since then, I’ve been mildly curious about it. We see books set in France, Italy, Australia, etc., but what about Monaco? How’s life look like there? I actually wrote a short story about a teen American girl visiting Monaco when I was in high school, but I haven’t been able to find it and quite frankly, I knew very little about the country. I’d love to read the story from someone who knew what they were talking about.
3. A Little Women Retelling
It’s no secret that I love Little Women. Because of this, I have attempted a couple different retellings, but neither of them have stuck for me yet, but we’ll see… maybe one day something will. I love this story and want to see a truly justifiable retelling of it, either in a contemporary or futuristic setting. Also, bonus points if Jo and Laurie hook up this time. 🙂
4. Jane Austen Contemporary Retellings, a la Lizzie Bennet and Emma Approved
Basically, I want to see stories very similar to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved as novels, and obviously more suited for that than the video format. I suppose they would be more New Adult, but I would want them to not be too focused on sexytimes, but rather stay true to the nature of Jane Austen’s stories. And I know there are Jane Austen retellings out there, but I would love for the same author to write six books based on Jane Austen’s six books and that would be in the same universe, and be as awesome as these Pemberley Digital videos. I would DEVOUR these books, so someone give them to me!
5. Retelling of Alice in Wonderland that Involves Traveling to Other Worlds/Dimensions
I came up with this one very randomly. I have nothing else to add, but I think it sounds awesome.
6. Set in Well-Known Cities That Aren’t LA/NYC/Chicago
I love big cities, but it seems the same ones get all the love. Why not more books in Seattle, Houston, Phoenix, Nashville (though I think this one is rising in popularity… I just wish we could see more Nashville stories NOT involving country music), etc.? I’ll admit I don’t think much about where the story is set when I seek out a book, probably largely because I’m usually reading things set in the future, but if a book was set in Houston or Nashville (the two areas where I have spent the vast majority of my life) my interest would be at least piqued.
7. Teens Who Work in a Comic Book Store and Go on Geeky Adventures
I think this one is self-explanatory, and would be so fun!
8. Teen Science Geniuses a la Fitz-Simmons
Fitz and Simmons are the two scientists on the show Agents of SHIELD, and they’re also my favorite characters from the show. They totally play off each other with their science facts and geeky quips and I want a book with a duo like them! But since I fail at science, I will not be writing it.
9. Teen Olympian Athlete
Was anyone else totally into Tara Lipinski, 1998 Olympic gold medalist?
As someone who has never been particularly good at sports, I have long been fascinated by the ability of Olympian athletes, and would love to read a YA book about a teen playing in the games, particularly a gymnast, a swimmer, or an ice skater. I would love to read a realistic look of what it takes to train for, qualify for, and be in the Olympics as a teen athlete.
10. Teens/Young Adults Flying in Space, a la the Red Squad from Star Trek
In the Star Trek franchise, there are references to an elite group of cadets from Starfleet Academy called Red Squad who receive special and advanced training flying in space. In an episode of Deep Space Nine called “Valiant,” the Red Squad cadets were aboard the U.S.S. Valiant with an adult crew, when all the adult crew were killed in enemy fire and the cadets were forced to step up and take charge of the ship. It was a very interesting look on how a spaceship run by young people would work, how they would respond to having to answer to one another as officers, etc. Basically, I would love to see some of the ideas from this episode expounded on and explored in a book (something other than a Star Trek book). And I would love to hear the perspective of the specially trained teens about flying in space and their hopes for their future in a space career.
