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Reviews
Your Christmas or Mine? (2022)
It's better than you would expect
If you have some time just watch this. It's fun, goofy, fast paced and simple. I didn't watch anything with Asa Butterfield before and the constant ad on my google tv finally got the better of me. I'm not a movies person, I rarely watch them, that's why I'm really impressed by how well everything in this flick was executed and filmed. The movie also has some twists that made it even more funny to watch and wait until the end.
I was surprised and pleased to see David Bradley, Daniel Mays and Alex Jannings in the cast, three legends of British television. Overall, it's an uncompromising experience that will bring some joy and escape for a little while.
The Last Ship (2014)
Propaganda but it's decent
If you can look past the blantat militaristic propaganda, this is a good show. The main story is decent, most of the characters are well developed and played by some really good actors, the action is also thrilling most of the time.
The only downside is that we have another USA good - Russia bad, USA have morals - Latinos are druggies, USA patriots - Arabs terrorists. Some of the propaganda and overall sense of moral superiority are downright disgusting.
All seasons are good, but they tend to get worse as they progress. Anyway, a decent show if you want some action and drama. But beware, some aspects are so overly done that you may think they are a mockery.
9-1-1: Lone Star (2020)
The diversity may be forced and over the top, but it's a good show
I understand why people would call this woke and dismiss this show. There is a muslim firewoman, a black man who transitioned from being female, a black and white gay couple, a Latino and white gay couple, the crazy white woman, a dumb but brilliant Latino firefighter, an over the top texan who's married to a gentle black woman, and many other things from the diversity list. But I really don't care, although it is sometimes exaggerated, this is a good melodrama, like 911.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: A Quality of Mercy (2022)
I want more
I felt like I was watching a prequel to the TOS, which of course is the premise of the show. This episode and overall season was so good I can't wait to watch whatever happens next. Bring season 2 ASAP.
The Orville: A Tale of Two Topas (2022)
Outstanding
This episode explored trans issues and gender dysphoria in a very sophisticated and thoughtful manner. It felt real, raw, important. Star Trek Discovery tried to do the same, but the way they handled it felt almost like a mockery.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: The Elysian Kingdom (2022)
Typical low Trek
Every Star Trek season, including the Original Series, has its low, trashy, cringe and unworthy episodes. This is the first, and certainly not the last, off Strange New Worlds.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach (2022)
The best Trek episode in decades
Stunning. Every single thing that made Star Trek great is here: an alien race, battle action, silly interactions between officers, personal conflicts, a brief romance and deep moral questions.
As far as "NuTrek" goes, this is the most TOS episode to date. Simply outstanding.
The Orville: Electric Sheep (2022)
Great way to come back.
First of all, people who hate "NuTrek" and view the Orville as the proper continuation of classic Star Trek, beware: there's too much flashy, techy and futuristic effects for you!
Now, with the episode. There was a huge gape between seasons 2 and now 3, but once you start watching this episode you'll remember what happened last. A great comeback, Orville style. New characters. Overall, really good.
Beforeigners (2019)
Good first season. Second season is trash
First season was engaging and refreshing. Second season is a myriad of cliches, they could do without the ancient witch wanting to perform oral sex in order to solve a "mystery"
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
The best Trek since Voyager
Yup, 3 episodes in and I'm already confident this is the best Trek incarnation since Voyager. It has space exploration, intergalactic conflict, humor, a little bit of drama (which is what every good track had before, unlike seasons 3 and 4 of Discovery where drama is 95% of the show), the characters are superbly played and diverse. I wish they had left current partisan politics behind, like all Trek before them did, but no Trek can be as perfect as Deep Space Nine I guess.
Castle (2009)
This is a really entertaining show
Despite the ordinary cop story, it's insane how good this show is. You won't find anything you haven't watched in a million crime shows before. Absolutely nothing. What really makes this show good is the acting, every single actor is outstanding.
Star Trek: Picard: Hide and Seek (2022)
The worst thing under the Star Trek banner I've ever seen
I have watched everything that has "Star Trek" in it, apart from season 2 of Lower Decks and Prodigy. I simply have no words to describe this mess. I can't believe someone approved this. Apart from a line where Seven explains why she didn't join Starfleet, everything in this episode is insidiously bad.
Star Trek: Discovery (2017)
My rating is for seasons 1 and 2
Seasons 1 and 2 of Discovery has everything a good Trek show offered in the past: space exploration, intergalactic conflict, alternate universes, complex science, humor, diversity and drama. All of these aspects are really well balanced.
Seasons 3 and 4, on the other hand, gave much more emphasis on the drama aspect. It becomes overwhelming, tiresome, unbearable. The few elements of old Trek shows are still there, but always deep in the background. I also think the diversity elements were overused to the point of becoming caricature. Star Trek was always about diversity, but what happens in seasons 3 and 4 of Diversity are almost a mockery.
Star Trek: Picard (2020)
5 out of 5 stars for the first season, 1 for the second
Season 1 of Picard is surprisingly good. I wasn't expecting anything good at all given how Trek fans seem to hate it. Season 2, on the other hand, is a complete mess and should be avoided.
Star Trek: The Way to Eden (1969)
Not nearly as bad as people make us believe it to be
Season 3 of TOS has a collection of terrible episodes and, in comparison, this is not the worst of them. In fact, I'd say this is one of the best episodes out of a very shaky season. Also the music is super fun, I love them.
Yakamoz S-245 (2022)
The good is really good, the bad is really bad
It's a very unbalanced show. Most of the action, thrills and premise are really strong and well executed. Most of the underlying drama is unbelievably nonsensical and adds absolutely nothing to the show.
I've read this is a Into The Night spin-off and it makes sense, because it's almost the same history in a different scenario. Not as good as Into The Night season 1, but not as bad as the second season. It's a good show to watch, but it's avoidable.
Invasion (2021)
Avoid it by any means necessary
Full blown drama that gets drowned in cliches, apparently some alien invasion is happening in the background. Sci-fi? It's hard to find worse shows than this.
Star Trek (1966)
It's a really hard to watch at first, especially if you got into later Treks first
I have watched Deep Space Nine, Voyager, The Next Generation and Enterprise before this Original Series, and season 1 was a really tough one to "endure". You could see the franchise was only on its first steps, slowing - real slowly - showcasing what the great legendary Star Trek world would be. Although there are some good episodes on that first season, things really kick off in season 2, which is almost flawless, same with season 3. It would be advisable to watch Enterprise first because of timeline, but not essential.
Manifest (2018)
Engaging at first, unremarkable later
Season 1 and half the of season 2 are very engaging and intriguing. Interesting plots, standard sci-fi and mystery, nothing extraordinary but fun to watch.
Then the rest of season 2 and 3 our very unremarkable, predictable and filled with cliche drama and religion, which is not a bad thing but was not explored in previous episodes - feels like the show had this very big void.
Battlestar Galactica (2004)
Katee Sackhoff may be one of the worst actresses ever
Before I started watching this show, some years ago I had the unpleasant experience of having to watch another TV show, Another Life. The lead character, played by Katee Sackhoff, was an annoying person in her 40s speaking like a disgruntled teenager. The acting was so childish that it gave me the creeps.
I recently was told to watch Battlestar Galactica, and really loved the pilot episodes, until Katee Sackhoff suddenly became the star of the show. Another display of teenage communication, it's hard to believe anyone over 15 is able to speak like that. Gladly with streaming now I can just skip all the parts her ridiculous character is on.
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)
I wished I could like it more
Out of all Star Trek franchise from the 1960s to the Beyond from 2016, this is my least favorite.
The characters are unbelievably annoying and stagnant. Captain Picard, Commander Riker, the Crushers and Counselor Troy are the same from the first episode to the very last one. Even after being sucked up by the Borg, Picard remains the same starfleet poster boy, always babbling about the sacred prime directive. Riker has no personality, the Crushers are obnoxious and Troy never fully reaches her potential.
Most of the episodes follow the "alien of the week" formula, once you watch the first 5 minutes you already know how it is going to be concluded. There are some good storylines though, Commander Data and Lieutenant Word being good examples of this. Some moral and social dilemmas are explored in a thoughtful manner, which is something every Trek production has.
Now what really makes me do not like this show is the amount of filler episodes it has. Seasons 4 and 5 and basically made of 40 filler, wasteful and meaningless episodes. But, in the other hand, the show explore the Klingons and Romulans in a nice manner - although it could also provide some more context about the Bajorans and Cardassians, storylines that are constantly in the background but never fully understood.
I really wish I could like this more, but I find the subsequent movies with the same crew much better than this. Even Dr. Crusher is an amazing character in them!
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)
Probably the best TV show ever made
More than sci-fi this is a highly sophisticated, mature, almost philosophical show. You will question and meditate about almost every aspect of life after watching the episodes. Unlike the previous Trek show, you won't find many silly storylines or characters - in here even the most outrageous of them have some meaningful purpose. Despite the arc behind the entirety of the show, it is also very character driven. Storylines grow as the events unfold, nothing is settled in stone.
There is a lot of space exploration, aliens, holodecks and intergalactic conflict (possibly the best in Trek history). Some Trek fans seem to hate this show and cite the lack of those things, but sincerely I'm not sure they even watched this.
Farscape (1999)
The show that opened my mind to space television
Because of the covid lockdowns, I started watching things I've never cared before, and space sci-fi was one of them. I expected to find silly fx, cheesy drama and idiotic storylines but found amazing aliens, dark humor, social and moral issues explored in a thoughtful manner and very good visuals. This is a fun, thrilling and exciting show.
There are better previous and later shows in the same vein like Deep Space Nine and Stargate Atlantis, but this one is truly a must watch for every fan of the genre.
Star Trek: Voyager (1995)
A nice addition to the Trek history
After The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, this is another refreshing show in Trek history. The premise of being outside known space gave the show many possibilities to go forward without being too predictable, like introducing new species, a more diversified crew and more forms of artificial intelligence sentience.
What I really like about the show is the fact that almost every character is relatable in some way, from the captain to the ensigns, unlike TNG where some of the regular people were just unbearable. The only downside is the overuse of holodeck episodes, although most of them are really good.
Overall, I believe this show has everything that made TNG and DS9 good: space exploration, social issues, moral questions and action. This is my second favorite Trek show now, right after Deep Space Nine.