Written by: Dana Horgan & Kathryn Lyn
Directed by: Jonathan Frakes
The “Riker Maneuver” blooper absolutely killed me.
Directed by Frakes too!
I enjoyed this episode much more than the previous one. It was quite fun. Sure, holodeck episodes aren’t the most original idea in Star Trek, but they’re almost always good, and I think this episode was worth the slight fudging of canon.
Also, seeing the “Last Frontier” bits and how well they captured the TOS feel makes me think, “Why do they need to make modern Trek so fancy? Why can’t we have cheap-looking sets again?” Also, I think this is one of the better Paul Wesley performances in this show.
I was relieved to find they didn’t go to far with the meta this episode. So many of the clips and dialogues of this episode I saw in the initial trailers made me worry this season was going to do a multiverse plot or venture a bit too far beyond the fourth wall.
The only thing is the Spock/La’an romance is driving me nuts. Neither is emotionally ready, and Spock STILL has a fiance. It’s painful to watch it knowing that it’s almost certainly doomed. I don’t necessarily mind them acknowledging that they have feelings to each other, but I would have thought there would be a mutual desire to keep it platonic. In the end though, at least dancing isn’t Vulcan neuropressure - as I get further into Enterprise, I kind of wonder how Rick Berman has evaded the trunk of my car for so long.
Uhura speech it was very meta and was really emotional, it was a speech straight from a ST fan, nice writing and performing there Edit: bloopers were hilarious, and with Frakes directing the blooper of “Kirk” doing the Riker manouver was so funny
That was a pretty fun bit of silliness - low-calorie, but it looked like the cast had a good time.
The La’an/Spock storyline is unexpected, but damned if Ethan Peck and Christina Chong don’t have chemistry.
I wasn’t expecting another “fun” episode. I enjoyed it. The campy awfulness of the old TV set design and costumes was spot on.
Spock-La’an works well, I want to see more of it. It’s difficult to find a lot of plot progress in comedy eps, but pushing their relationship forward a bit is nice. I really hope it goes somewhere meaningful, but this being a prequel, I guess just how far it could go is limited, unless they’re willing to diverge off canon.
Hollywood AR walls don’t hold anything against a holodeck, but we’re getting there. It’s cases like this that make me think I wouldn’t enjoy one for real though, I’d just spend all my time getting paranoid. And did La’an get permission from everyone to use their patterns?
This earlier holodeck is lacking in any kind of true failsafe and is relying on the simulation program alone to not hurt people. Later on the enterprise, they never really figured that out. Scotty should have wrote his notes on safety much bigger than footnotes.
The writing staff must have been using this episode to vent their frustrations of the TV industry. When they were writing it, I wonder if they knew yet they had a confirmed 5 seasons, or if this was written during a hiatus.
I guess the takeaway message from this episode is “you can always rely on those around you”. Except when they’re holographic murder simulations, then all bets are off.
It’s a bit anachronistic what happened with the holodeck here. It’s quite hard to believe that it took them about 100 hundred years to decide to install holodecks like the ones from this episode on starships again and they haven’t fixed any of the problems. Instead there are similar technologies in the animated series and even the holodecks on Enterprise D can’t do the same thing until the Bynars enhance them.
Nonetheless it was a solid episode and I’m glad they addressed the creeping trend in SNW for characters to do things on their own instead of relying on their colleagues…
even the holodecks on Enterprise D can’t do the same thing until the Binaries enhance them.
I think this is a little different from what the Bynars did - La’An had to wear the brain scan thingie for the day for the computer to get a sense of her personality, while the enhanced TNG holodeck was able to do it on the fly.
I’ve been thinking about this for a few days now and I think there is a big missed opportunity here. The holodeck prototype showed more of less the same errors holodecks still have 100 years later. They could have shown other faults and use that for a comment on the current AI development.
Damn. 🥵🔥
EDIT: Did someone turn the heater on. Um… it’s a bit steamy here.
yeah, the ending was too hot, and it’s not even August yet :P
Not to mention I get to see THOSE TWO in a week at STLV.
Same here but my AC is actually broken
The TNG references with the chair gag and wearing jeans BTS really got me.
I gave this one a rewatch, and not only is it much better when you’re not half-asleep like I was the first time 'round, I think it also works better when you know the Spock twist in advance.
Setting aside the silliness of the simulation, the actual story worked better for me once I realized that the re-creation room was manipulating La’An the entire time, planting the false Spock from the very beginning, and using the various characters to needle her about her feelings - both that she has them at all, and how she’s afraid people might take her less seriously in her job as a consequence of them.
Not-Uhura’s speech is about the “Amelia Moon” stories La’An grew up with just as much as it’s about Star Trek itself.
And Christina Chong turned in a really great performance throughout, too - this one should definitely go in her audition reel.
Annotations for 3x04 up at: https://startrek.website/post/26871550
I have no hope for this series but Frakes is still directing. What’s a fan to do.
Obviously continue to watch something you dislike, despite there being many other things you can do with your life.
But there are four lights!!!
I’ve entered the mourning phase for Star Trek and have finally stopped watching. Similar to what happened with Doctor Who. Instead of telling good sci fi stories, it’s morphed into “How whacky can we be?” It’s all singing all dancing puppet show hour now.
It doesn’t help that it’s on the “we fire people to please Trump” network.
