[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
[Big spoilers ahead ... ]
It was the ugliest episode of the series. Palpably brutal, with Henry's naked time traveling body hitting the floor so many times it was making my eyes sore, not to mention my soul. And that was the least of it. Far worse was:
1. Henry discovering that he's aging more quickly than normal, non-traveling people, and he'll be dying, what, when he's in his early 50s?
2. He can't give Clare what she most wants, given his frequent absence even when he's alive: a child. It seems every time he gets her pregnant, the embryo or fetus time travels and of course can't survive.
As a result, Henry has a vasectomy, because he can't bear to keep doing that her. But in a happy ending -- at least a hopeful ending -- Clare encourages younger, "asshole" Henry to keep seeing her. He has not yet had a vasectomy.
And there this wondrous, wild story ends? As I've been saying, I hope not. There are possibilities to explore. Maybe Henry can figure out a way to extend his life. Maybe he can connect with some genius gynecologist who can bring his and Clare's baby to term.
I don't know, I'm not a medical expert. But I do know I much enjoyed the six episodes of this story, even though they had their flaws, and I'd be up any time for seeing more.
Great acting by Theo James and Rose Leslie in the title roles, and I thought Josh Stamberg was impressive in this episode as Henry's father. Kudos to everyone who made this short season, and I look forward to seeing its continuation someday somewhere.
See also The Time Traveler's Wife 1.1: Off to a Fine, Funny, Complex Start ... 1.2: Fate ... 1.3: Lies and Love ... 1.4: Mercurial Stock ... 1.5 Hair
Just saw Jay Kensinger's Syd and Chloe and the Myriad Worlds 40-minute short film (he wrote, directed, and has a cameo at the end of the movie). It's a provocative, excellent science fiction movie, with a great metaphysical premise, and a fun rendition.
[Mild spoilers ahead ... ]
The premise: if you subtract one class of things from an infinite set or universe, that universe will still be infinite (because infinite in effect means immune from subtraction) but it will nonetheless be lacking that thing or class of things. As far as I know, Kensinger himself came up with this powerful and profound idea, and it's compelling indeed.
And Syd and Chloe and the Myriad Worlds shows that it makes for a fine little movie. The two title characters are inter-reality agents -- they can travel from one reality or universe to another -- and they're after William, a psychopathic robot who is pruning or deleting realities not to his liking. They're joined by Melanie, presumably of this our Earth, who plays a decisive role in the resolution of the peril.
The actors are unknown to me, except for Kensinger, who wrote and directed and starred in The Chronology Protection Case, a short film he made from my novelette of the same name (right, I'm not an objective viewer of Kensinger's work -- but, trust me, I wouldn't write a review that said how much I enjoyed any movie of his, unless I really very much enjoyed it). I'll also mention here, while on the subject of Kensinger, that he also wrote the music for Syd and Chloe, which also worked very well.
Back to the acting, I thought Eva Shumaker as Melanie was really good. She has an expressive face, and I expect a future in acting if she pursues it. Adrienne Carter as Chloe and Helene Simkin Jara as Syd make an unorthodox, even memorable pair of agents, and Greg Paroff is suitably chilling as William.
Syd and Chloe will be making the rounds at film festivals. Here, to whet your appetite, is the trailer. Catch it and then the movie if you can.
I generally don't like Baltimore Orioles. Hey, I'm a lifelong Yankees fan. But that's baseball. When it comes to birds, the Baltimore Oriole is one of the most beautiful avians around.
So ... my wife and I went over to our daughter's house in Brewster (Cape Cod) this afternoon. I to do some manual mowing, she to check out some yard sales. Later in the day, after I finished the lawn and she unpacked, she heard a chirping right outside her car on the driveway. She got out to see a cute little chubby bird with a yellow underbelly chirping its head off.
She called me over. We decided to move it out of the driveway, which obviously is not the safest place, especially for a bird that didn't seem to want or be able to fly. I gently picked it up and moved it to a place under a nearby shrub. The little bird continued to chip, walked a bit, an attempted to fly. It jumped or managed to fly onto the lowest branch of the shrub.
My wife called Mike O'Connor in the Bird Watcher's General Store in Orleans. He advised us to leave it alone, and assured my wife that the bird's parents would take care of finding it and feeding it. But he suggested that we could also call Wild Care of Cape Code in Eastham and tell them our story.
My wife sent them a video (video at bottom of post) and photo (photo at top of post) of the little bird. They told my wife the bird looked "tired and droopy" and could we bring it in. Which we did, after I gently picked it up and it put in an Amazon box (they're useful).
The helpful woman at Wild Care took in the bird, told us it definitely was a fledgling, and it was cold. She suggested they keep it overnight, feed it, and if was doing well tomorrow, we take it back to where we found it. Otherwise, she says they already have a Baltimore Oriole under their care, and it could use a friend. She also mentioned that fledglings like this that leave the nest are in maximum danger of predation, and most little Orioles like this "don't make it". Hey, I like foxes, too, but I'd rather this little bird have a life.
I'll keep you posted here on what we do and found out about this fledgling Baltimore Oriole tomorrow.
video by Tina Vozick
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 320, in which I review episode 3.3 of The Orville on Hulu
Written blog post review of this episode
Podcast reviews of The Orville third season: 3.1... 3.2
Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 319, in which I review For All Mankind 3.2 on Apple TV+.
Written blog post review of this episode
Podcast reviews of prior episodes and seasons: 3.1 ... Season 2 ... Season 1
Answer: They both said "bullshit" on television in the past week.
Good thing, then, for at least that reason, that The Orville moved from Fox to Hulu.
[Spoilers ahead ... ]
As for the story in 3.3, it was a little bit of a hodge podge. Mercer and some of his team land on a planet that has no life signs, only to find an American high school in a clearing with a literally monstrous bully. And it gets worse from there, as our heroes find themselves on a plane without a pilot, and in all kinds of situations where they apparently get really hurt, and their lives are in danger.
They begin to get clues, though, that they're not really there in those dangerous situations, and of course it turns out that they're experiencing a series of illusions. The reason provides the first really interesting element in this story: an alien species has immortality, and they want to feel what it's like when you're about to die.
Mercer, for my money, has the best take on this. To the obvious lesson that immortality has its drawbacks, Mercer says that he would still indeed like to live forever. Why? Because he wants to see what will happen.
Works for me. See you back here next week with my review of the next episode.
See also The Orville 3.1: Life and Death ... 3.2: "Come and Get Me ..."
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
My favorite alternate history detail in For All Mankind 3.2 on Apple TV+ yesterday is "dmail" -- that's the name in 1992 for what we call email in our world. I guess "d" comes from digital -- digital mail, just as the "e" in ours comes from electronic mail. I like details like that.
[Now for some bigger spoilers... ]
I had a feeling as soon Marge fired Molly and removed Ed from the Mars mission that he would wind up on what Dev was doing. He's a great character. An Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Richard Branson mega-rich titan with the cosmic visionary quality of Steve Jobs. And he's played by Edi Gathegi, who was just iconic in StartUp.
And I like the way Ed got there. I said in my review of last week's 3.1 that I thought Sam's death was good for the narrative, freeing up Karen to maybe get back with Ed and who knows else. In 3.2, we learn that Ed has split with his wife (good), and Karen and Ed are indeed much closer. But, most importantly, she pitches Ed as the leader of Dev's mission (pitch is his apt word), he takes a vote of his people in the room (his company is at least this far a democracy), and Ed is commanding the mission.
This sets up a heated rivalry between Ed (Helios) and Danielle (whom Marge has chosen to lead the first Mars mission for NASA) and who knows who the Soviets might send up there. And to up the ante, and increase the pressure, Dev is moving up the date of the mission.
It's an easy prediction that Ed and Danielle will be on Mars at the same time, and one will likely save the other. But that's getting ahead of the story, and I'll see you back here next week with my review of 3.3.
See also For All Mankind 3.1: The Alternate Reality Progresses
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
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