Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 331, in which I review episode 3.5 of The Orville on Hulu
Blog post written review of this episode
Podcast reviews of The Orville third season: 3.1... 3.2 ... 3.3... 3.4
Joel McKinnon interviews Paul Levinson about Star Trek and The Orville on McKinnon's Seldon Crisis podcast.
Well, The Orville episode 3.5 moved into Emmy-worthy territory, with an episode on a sensitive, important issue, presented in a plot with letter-perfect detail and twists.
You may recall that in a prior season, Topa, Moclan child of Bortus and his husband, was obliged to undergo "corrective" surgery that changed Topa biologically from female to male, because females were not allowed in Moclan culture. Now, in the present, a young teenaged Topa is feeling confused and unhappy. Commander Grayson figures out why. The solution is an easy surgery which would restore Topa to womanhood.
Except, Bortus's husband goes ballistic at the prospect, and the Union doesn't want to antagonize Moclus given the Kaylon threat and the need to have Moclus as an ally. The Orville leadership applies all of its wisdom and energy towards finding a way to do the surgery, and --
Well, I won't tell you anymore, because if you've read this far and haven't seen this episode, you need to see it.
[Well, ok, here's a general spoiler.]
I will tell you the solution is brilliantly logical, and serves all kinds of purposes. Plus, it will tug on your heart strings and get you to see The Orville in a new light. It has always been far more than mere satire of Star Trek. But now it can justifiably claim the status of being right up there among the best episodes in any Star Trek series.
See also The Orville 3.1: Life and Death ... 3.2: "Come and Get Me ..." ... 3.3: What Do Bill Barr and Ed Mercer Have in Common? ... 3.4: The Captain's Daughter
And see also The Orville 2.1: Relief and Romance ... The Orville 2.2: Porn Addiction and Planetary Disintegration ... The Orville 2.3: Alara ... The Orville 2.4: Billy Joel ... The Orville 2.5: Escape at Regor 2 ... The Orville 2.6: "Singin' in the Rain" ... The Orville 2.7: Love and Death ... The Orville 2.8: Recalling Čapek, Part 1 ... The Orville 2.9: Recalling Čapek, Part 2 ... The Orville: 2.10: Exploding Blood ... The Orville 2.11: Time Capsule, Space Station, and Harmony ... The Orville 2.12: Hello Dolly! ... The Orville 2.13: Time Travel! ... The Orville Season 2 Finale: Alternate History!
And see also The Orville 1.1-1.5: Star Trek's Back ... The Orville 1.6-9: Masterful ... The Orville 1.10: Bring in the Clowns ... The Orville 1.11: Eating Yaphit ... The Orville 1.12: Faith in Reason and the Prime Directive
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 330, in which I review episode 4.2 of Westworld on HBO.
Blogpost written review of this episode
Podcast reviews of this season: 4.1 ...
[Spoilers ahead ...]
Newton finally became almost a mentch, admitting he had love for Faraday. And although Newton keeps saying they're won't be any room on the ship from Anthea to Earth for any drones, Faraday is going to make sure he gets his family on board, anyway.
But speaking of family, I very much liked the way Faraday and Justin parted. The two clearly love each other, too. The big story may be the tale of two different worlds, one on the verge of death, the other not that from it. But the people we've met, and see in action especially in this finale, are very much alive and have lots of life ahead.
Back to Newton. First, what an acting job by Bill Nighy! And what delightful details. One of my favorite lines in the overall series is Newton saying maybe it's time to kick the habit of smoking. As I said, he's becoming a mentch.
And rather than commenting on the rest of the finale, let me instead say how much more there is to this story. Faraday blasted off. Wouldn't it be great to see what happens when he gets back to Anthea? Wouldn't it be satisfying and fun to see what happens when he gets back to Earth?
The answer of course is yes. So bring on another season. And in the meantime, kudos to everyone who helped make this first season so good. In addition to Nighy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Clarke Peters, and Naomie Harris were great in their roles. Tell us more!
See also The Man Who Fell to Earth 1.1: Great Provenance and Excellent Start ... 1.2: The Ending We Needed ... 1.3: "I've come with a prototype ... " 1.4: "Tell my wife I love her very much ... " ... 1.5: Co-Mingling ... 1.6: Music of the Spheres ... 1.7 Game Changes ... 1.8: Battle at the Nunnery ... 1.9: Just Deserts
Westworld 4.2 continued the leaner, meaner narrative that apparently will typify this season, and I'm glad of it.
Among the most salient developments:
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
1. The Man in Black aka William is in top murderous form. He's the main source of evil. His better-looking self is an AI host, with his human originator back in some pathetic Matrix-like stasis. He (William host) seems close to taking over the US government itself, having already taken care of the Vice President. I said last week that I thought William throwing his mob-like self around like this was a little trite. But it's now so audacious, I'm beginning to enjoy it.
2. Maeve and Caleb continue as the best/only good guys in the fray. It's (of course) no easy battle. The host makers have improved the models, to the point where they're not quite amenable to Maeve's control. But the two make a good team, and animate every scene they're in.
3. Christina once Delores continues to have the most interesting intellectual story, at least in my book: what she writes seems to become reality, or at least insofar as one character. This kind of meta storytelling, in which characters literally jump off the page or screen, is always fun to see.
Still missing in action in Bernard, who must have an important role this season. And Teddy, after making that dramatic entry at the end of 4.1, wasn't on hand at all in 4.2, but I'm sure we'll see him again soon.
And I'll see you back here next week with my review of the next episode.
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 328, in which I review For All Mankind 3.3-3.4 on Apple TV+.
Blog post review of these episodes: 3.3 - 3.4
Podcast reviews of prior episodes and seasons: 3.1 3.2 ... Season 2 ... Season 1
Joel McKinnon interviews Paul Levinson about Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, The Orville, Isaac Asimov, much more on his Seldon Crisis podcast
[Ok, here's the Spoilers advisory.]
Episode 3.3, as I said, is an excellent spy drama, in which Margot gets sucked into being blackmailed by the Soviets to give them all kinds of essential information about our NASA space program. We see her in a deepening, almost romantic relationship with her Soviet counterpart -- whom she's been giving some information to, for the benefit of all mankind -- but right before the two can consummate their romance, she's greeted by Soviet KGB tough guys, who say they'll kill her almost lover, unless she plays ball, i.e., gives them much more info, especially about our Mars mission.
The result sets up episode 3.4 quite effectively: a three-way race to Mars, with Helios, NASA, and the Soviets all launching missions to Mars at the same time, The race is on.
The missions are dangerous, because, of course, they're all being done for the first time, And as we've seen before with For All Mankind, this superb alternate history series isn't afraid to show that major lives can be lost in our pursuit of ever wider vistas off Earth,
I'm enjoying this third season immensely, and I'll see you back here next week with my review of the next episode.
See also For All Mankind 3.1: The Alternate Reality Progresses ... 3.2: D-Mail
And see also For All Mankind, Season 1 and Episode 2.1: Alternate Space Race Reality ... For All Mankind 2.2: The Peanut Butter Sandwich ... For All Mankind 2.3: "Guns to the Moon" ... For All Mankind 2.4: Close to Reality ... For All Mankind 2.5: Johnny and the Wrath of Kahn ... For All Mankind 2.6: Couplings ... For All Mankind 2.7: Alternate History Surges ... For All Mankind 2.8: Really Lost in Translation ... For All Mankind 2.9: Relationships ... For All Mankind 2.10: Definitely Not the End
get the paperback or Kindle of this alternate history here
[Big spoilers ahead ... ]
1. Hemmer sacrifices himself. And though the way that came to be was evocative and soul-wrenching, I'm sorry it happened. He was a great character. Real personality and somehow new in the Star Trek universe, which has given us Andorians before but no one quite like Hemmer. I hope somehow he comes back.
2. La'an is not permanently gone, but she'll be off the show for a while, or at least an episode or two. That's too bad, too -- though her reason makes perfect sense.
3. What Uhura has been through is enough to make her stay on the Enterprise. Ok, that's something I'm unreservedly very happy about.
4. Spock nearly loses control, and Chapel explains to him that that's only human. More important than what she said, they hug. That's only human, too, and good to see.
Stepping back a bit, those Gorn are a nasty species, and certainly causing ours a lot of big trouble in SNW. They did elicit a good phrase from Pike -- "watch your six". The courteous explanation of what that means is watch what's behind you. Watch your ass is more to the point.
But one thing I didn't particularly like: Sam Kirk as jackass. I don't like seeing any Kirk come across like that, but I'm willing to see where SNW goes with that.
See you back here next week with my review of the next episode.
See also Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 1.1-1.2: Great Characters, Actors, Stories ... 1.3: "Instead of terraforming planets, we modify ourselves ..." ... 1.4: The Gorn and the Wub ... 1.5 Going to the Chapel ... 1.6: Two Stories ... 1.7: The Kiss ... 1.8: Ends of the Continuum
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 325, in which I review Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney.
Blogpost written review of this series.
Checking in with a review of the six-episode season of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney, which I thought was just superb. In fact, I liked it better than any of the Star Wars movies released since the prequel trilogy, 1999-2005 -- which I liked almost as much as the original trilogy, which I flat-out loved.
Ewan McGregor back in the title role, and the super fine job he did with that, is only part of the reason. There was excellent acting and star power in the 2015-2019 releases movies, too. And though I really enjoyed hearing James Earl Jones as Darth, and seeing Hayden Christensen as Anakin, Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon, and Jimmy Smits as Bail Organa, that wasn't the deepest reason I really enjoyed Obi-Wan Kenobi, either.
I think it's that for a story of this scope and importance, a six-episode series is a much better conveyor than a single movie. It's pretty much common knowledge that Obi-Wan Kenobi was originally planned as a movie, too, but the poor box office of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019 got the producers thinking that maybe a TV series would work better. Likely COVID's depression of theatrical attendance played a role as well.
Whatever the reason, I binged Obi-Wan Kenobi in two evenings, which would have been one if I hadn't started watching it so late. To get back to the acting, in addition to the big names who lived up to their big names, I very much liked Vivien Lyra Blair as young Leia, Indira Varma (close already to being a big name) as Tala, and Moses Ingram as Third Sister aka Reva.
[Spoiler ahead ... ]
The only question I have, and maybe I missed something, is why exactly did Obi-Wan not kill Darth when he finally got the better of his once-student? Especially since that happened right after Darth informed Obi-Wan that Darth was no longer Anakin, and in fact had killed him?
But that's ok, I still love this little series, and, right, I'm looking forward to and hoping it will have at least one more season.
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 324, in which I review episode 4.1 of Westworld on HBO.
Blogpost written review of this episode
Westworld was back on HBO last night with the start of its fourth season, and I liked it. It had a leaner feel and storyline than the previous season, which worked well with the meanness at large in every season. Plus, it had a wallop of a surprise at the end.
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
Maeve is in great shape, forced out of some kind of retirement in the snowy woods because a team is out to kill her. Like a hit woman or agent who hasn't lost her touch after all of these years, she disposes of them easily. But of course there'll be more to come. She needs to create her own team, and she starts with Caleb. This almost could be a Liam Neeson movie were it not for the first three seasons.
Caleb is relatively happily married, and he has a daughter that looks like Maeve's daughter, but I assume she's not. In contrast to Maeve's steely resolve, well-played as always by Thandiwe Newton, we have the mentally conflicted Caleb well played by Aaron Paul. This part was a little trite, but, then again, the opening story with the Man in Black making like a mobster was even triter.
Not trite at all is Christina, once Delores, who is now in New York writing stories. If she ends up writing a story about sentient AIs that would be ok with me. Evan Rachel Wood is great, as always, and so far she's the most interesting character, storyline wise.
Which leads to that surprise at the end: Teddy's back! Which I think is a fine move, not only because I'm sure we'll get a good story about how he ends up now in New York City, after -- how many years? we last saw him in Season 2 -- but because, hey, I like to see some true love in a story, and Westworld certainly needs some.
See you back here next week with my review of the next episode.
[Spoilers follow ... ]
1. Lisa is ultimately in the employ of ... Newton. And in the last scene, Bill Nighy never looked better in the role and more like David Bowie. Which is one and the same thing, and a very good thing to see.
2. Josiah survived. But in sad touch that makes perfect sense, he lost all of his Anthean qualities, and is back on the road to soon dying as completely human. I'm hoping Faraday gets a chance to give him some more of his Anthean essence before the finale ends.
Some other points:
See also The Man Who Fell to Earth 1.1: Great Provenance and Excellent Start ... 1.2: The Ending We Needed ... 1.3: "I've come with a prototype ... " 1.4: "Tell my wife I love her very much ... " ... 1.5: Co-Mingling ... 1.6: Music of the Spheres ... 1.7 Game Changes ... 1.8: Battle at the Nunnery
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 323, in which I review episode 3.4 of The Orville on Hulu
Blog post written review of this episode
Podcast reviews of The Orville third season: 3.1... 3.2
... 3.3
Further reading related to this episode:
The Talmud versus The US Supreme Court Decision Today to Suspend Roe v. Wade
An excellent episode 3.4 of The Orville up on Hulu today, which connected to a momentous, disastrous US Supreme Court decision today which couldn't have been known when the episode was made.
[Spoilers follow ... ]
The Union is pursuing a treaty with the Krill to fight their mutual enemy the Kaylons. High stakes diplomacy ensue, including the best admirals on TV these days, Halsey and Perry, played Victor Garber and Ted Danson (you can't go wrong with that). But before the treaty is concluded and signed, the head of the Krill is beaten in an election by the fascistic Teleya. This is just the beginning of the resonances in this episode to the present USA.
Teleya has been on The Orville before, in its two prior seasons. In 3.4, she's not only elected President (presumably -- perhaps she and her party fixed it), she turns out to be the mother of a daughter fathered by our one and only Captain Mercer (the two had an affair). Ed gets to meet her, and it's a great scene. The fact that Teleya kept the baby is not surprising -- an abortion is a crime in their culture, and couples who have them are forced to interact with a hologram of what their child would have been like. (See The Talmud vs Today's Supreme Court Decision Overturning Roe v. Wade for at least some of my thoughts about what U.S. Supreme Court did in our reality today.)
Back on The Orville, I won't tell you how all of this turned out, though you'll of course know that Captain Mercer survives. I will say there are some crackling battles in space, Ed and Kelly have a tender moment, and I like the art deco look of the Krill big city,
See you back here next week with my review of episode 3.5
See also The Orville 3.1: Life and Death ... 3.2: "Come and Get Me ..." ... 3.3: What Do Bill Barr and Ed Mercer Have in Common?
And see also The Orville 2.1: Relief and Romance ... The Orville 2.2: Porn Addiction and Planetary Disintegration ... The Orville 2.3: Alara ... The Orville 2.4: Billy Joel ... The Orville 2.5: Escape at Regor 2 ... The Orville 2.6: "Singin' in the Rain" ... The Orville 2.7: Love and Death ... The Orville 2.8: Recalling Čapek, Part 1 ... The Orville 2.9: Recalling Čapek, Part 2 ... The Orville: 2.10: Exploding Blood ... The Orville 2.11: Time Capsule, Space Station, and Harmony ... The Orville 2.12: Hello Dolly! ... The Orville 2.13: Time Travel! ... The Orville Season 2 Finale: Alternate History!
And see also The Orville 1.1-1.5: Star Trek's Back ... The Orville 1.6-9: Masterful ... The Orville 1.10: Bring in the Clowns ... The Orville 1.11: Eating Yaphit ... The Orville 1.12: Faith in Reason and the Prime Directive
The Jewish Talmud generally holds that life begins with the first breath (see, for example, When Does Life Begin? A Jewish View). What would this mean for a Jewish woman who wants to have an abortion in a state in which abortion is banned, due to today's U.S. Supreme Court decision?
If she is denied the right to have an abortion, due to the Supreme Court's decision based on the Christian view that life begins with conception, is she not having her Jewish religious belief overridden by a Christian doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States? And would this not be a blatant violation of the First Amendment to our Constitution, and its separation of church and state, mandated in the clause, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion"?
This is the essence of Florida Rabbi Barry Silver's suit against Florida's recently enacted 15-week ban on abortion. As Silver explains, "when life begins is radically different for Jews than it is for the people that wrote this law.”
Ultimately, the only way to reliably safeguard the rights of women over their bodies is to elect 54 Democrats to the Senate. With two Democrats, Manchin and Sinema, almost certain to vote against lifting of the filibuster, that leaves 50 Senators to vote in favor of that. VP Harris can break the tie, which opens the possibility of expanding the number of Justices on the Supreme Court, by Congress and President Biden.
Before then, it will be instructive to see what happens when Rabbi Silver's suit lands in the current Supreme Court, Will they choose to ignore the separation of church and state required by the First Amendment?
[Spoilers follow ... ]
The ship and its crew turned into a fairytale was the biggest piece of at first inexplicable idiocy I've ever seen in any Star Trek episode in any series. The problem was more than the clumsy efforts at humor that SNW has been prone to. The problem was more than thirty minutes of sheer nonsense bordering on gibberish.
I wouldn't say the ending redeemed this, because that first part was really not needed. But giving Rukiah a life out of the transporter was a wonderful thing, and the manner in which that happened -- she could live that life in the vistas of her mind, and not be brought down by the illness her body was suffering -- was a nice callback to "The Menagerie," in which that same solution worked for the original Captain Pike.
The best scene in the episode was Dr. M'Benga's conversation with his adult daughter. That scene was not only gratifying but had its own callback to TNG's "The Inner Light".
I still would have rather seen M'Benga come upon a physical cure for what was threatening his daughter's life, but I'd say 1.8 of Strange New Worlds is an episode worth seeing, if you don't pay too much attention to the first two thirds.
See also Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 1.1-1.2: Great Characters, Actors, Stories ... 1.3: "Instead of terraforming planets, we modify ourselves ..." ... 1.4: The Gorn and the Wub ... 1.5 Going to the Chapel ... 1.6: Two Stories ... 1.7: The Kiss
Expanding the Supreme Court is the only way of protecting Americans from what the court is now doing. I made this point in an interview last night on Frank LoBuono's Being Frank podcast (we start discussing this around 30 mins into the interview).
[Spoilers follow ... ]
Quite a battle at Mary Lou's nunnery. They held off Spencer and his killers long enough for Faraday and Justin to escape. And that only happened because Faraday, after being badly wounded at an earlier place, received a transfusion of Josiah's now Anthean blood. Those nuns not only were impressive fighters, they had crucially life-saving medical savvy.
Two big questions remain:
1. Did Josiah survive? He says his survival was by no means assured. In a powerful scene, we see him on the operating table as the badly wounded Mary Lou slips away (she was shot point blank by that horrendous Spencer). She dies happy, feeling that she fulfilled her mission and may be going to a better place. Josiah is still alive, last time we see him, and I'm hoping he survives.
2. Who is Lisa talking to, reporting to, on the phone? Possibly Edie or her brother Hatch, but I'd put my money on the inscrutable Newton. He remains a pivotal character in this story. Mary Lou loved him. She felt guilt for getting him crazy. But it's by now clear that he's more than crazy. He holds some crucial cards, and I'm looking forward to seeing how he plays them in the final two episodes of this season or series.
See also The Man Who Fell to Earth 1.1: Great Provenance and Excellent Start ... 1.2: The Ending We Needed ... 1.3: "I've come with a prototype ... " 1.4: "Tell my wife I love her very much ... " ... 1.5: Co-Mingling ... 1.6: Music of the Spheres ... 1.7 Game Changes
