Month: October 2017

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Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Context Is For Kings

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Six months after her role in the fateful opening volley of the war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation, Michael Burnham has been stripped of rank and sentenced to life in prison for mutiny. But even that doesn’t go smoothly: the prison shuttle is beset by space-faring microscopic life that drains electrical energy, and is tractored to safety by a huge Starfleet ship, the U.S.S. Discovery. Commanded by Captain Gabriel Lorca, the Discovery is seemingly fresh out of spacedock, and there are at least a few familiar surviving faces from the Shenzhou aboard, including Saru, now serving as Discovery‘s first officer. But wherever she shows her face, Burnham is a pariah at best, and yet Lorca seems to have singled her out, letting her work aboard the ship (under guard) rather than letting her sit in the brig. But the more she learns of the Discovery – and the fate of her sister ship, the Glenn – the more Burnham suspects that the ship’s mission isn’t purely scientific.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts & Craig Sweeny
story by Bryan Fuller & Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Rekha Sharma (Commander Ellen Landry), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Grace Lynn Kung (Psycho), Devon MacDonald (Engineering Officer), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Conrad Pla (Stone), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Shuttle Pilot), Christopher Russell (Milton Richter), Saad Siddiqui (Straal), Elias Toufexis (Cold), Tasia Valenzia (Shenzhou Computer)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: The Zee-Magnees Prize is an award for groundbreaking scientific research; by Burnham’s time, it has already been won by Dr. Richard Daystrom (The Ultimate Computer). Guest star Rekha Sharma gained genre fame as Tory Foster, President Roslin’s aide de camp in the 21st century remake of Battlestar Galactica, and has appeared in Supernatural, V, and an episode of the fan-made series Star Trek Continues. Prior to her breakout role in Galactica, she had made numerous appearances in Dark Angel, the ’90s revival of The Outer Limits, and Smallville.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Gifted, The Season 1

eXposed

The GiftedPolice squad cars pursue a young woman in Atlanta, only to lose track of her when she opens a glowing portal out of nowhere with her bare hands, leaping through it. She emerges through another portal in an abandoned building, and finds herself surrounded by others – others like herself. Police converge on the building, and after a fierce fight between police revolvers and powers almost beyond human comprehension, two of the suspects are taken into custody, while two of the cops are killed.

Teenager Lauren Strucker’s socially awkward younger brother Andy sneaks out of the house to accompany her to a school dance. When he’s picked on and tortured by the school bullies, Andy goes into a rage, unleashing an enormous amount of energy that almost brings the walls of the school down. Lauren, aware of his powers, drags Andy out of the school and races home. The incident has already made the news, attracting federal attention as America debates taking tougher measures to detect and contain mutants among the population. As Lauren explains to her mother that she and Andy have latent mutant powers, there’s a knock at the door. But it’s not the police, or indeed anyone with even the slightest respect for civil rights. Sentinel Services wages a secret war against the mutant populace. Andy again unleashes his powers to help his family escape. The Struckers are on the run.

This poses a serious dilemma for Reed Strucker, an attorney who has prosecuted cases involving mutants in the past…but he’s also in a very good position to know about the underground network that the mutants have built to protect themselves. Now he has to depend on the people he once helped to hunt down to save his children and his wife…and even if he can convince the mutants to help, it may not be enough to save Reed Strucker himself.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Matt Nix
based on the X-Men comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
directed by Bryan Singer
music by John Ottman

The GiftedCast: Stephen Moyer (Reed Strucker), Amy Acker (Caitlin Strucker), Sean Teale (Marcos Diaz / Eclipse), Natalie Alyn Lind (Lauren Strucker), Percy Hynes White (Andy Strucker), Coby Bell (Jace Turner), Jamie Ching (Clarice Fong / Blink), Blair Redford (John Proudstar / Thunderbird), Emma Dumont (Lorna Dane / Polaris), Toks Olagundove (Carla Jackson), Dale Godboldo (Ted Baird), Steffan Argus (Jack), Pierce Foster Bailey (Trevor), Giovanni DeVito (Dax), Billy Blair (Truck Driver), Dinarte de Freitas (Pedro), Dalton Gray (Jake), Josh Henry (Ben), Roscoe Johnson (Guard), Cynthia Jackson (Waitress), Jason Jamal Ligon (Side-Eye), Hayley Lovitt (Sage), Joe Nemmers (Agent Weeks), Jeff Daniel Phillips (Fade), Scott Parks (Passenger Cop), Jermaine Rivers (Shatter), Matthew Tompkins (Cal Jameson), Stan Lee (Stan Lee)

The GiftedObligatory Stan Lee cameo: Lee walks out of the bar, pausing in the doorway as he passes Marcos, who is en route to meet with Reed Strucker. Hi, Stan!

Notes: Though the X-Men are mentioned briefly, The Gifted presents a more small-scale look at the plight of mutants in America. The series is not based upon a particular comic, but was created by Matt Nix (creator and showrunner of the hit spy series Burn Notice) as a story taking place in the X-Men’s “universe”. Since the show is produced by 20th Century Fox (as opposed to Disney/ABC), The Gifted may share universes with that studio’s X-Men films, but is not part of the continuity of the bulk of Marvel’s Disney-produced film and TV output.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Orville, The Season 1

Pria

The OrvilleThe Orville receives a garbled distress call, apparently from a passing comet on a death dive into a nearby star. Ed leads a shuttle mission to rescue the sender of the distress call, the sole occupant of a ship crashed on the comet’s surface, but the close proximity of the star nearly makes it a one-way trip. He returns to the Orville with Pria Levesque, the captain of the crashed mining ship, though something about her story bothers Kelly. A check of the doomed ship’s manifest reveals no one aboard named Pria, but Ed is unconvinced that anything’s wrong. By the time enough evidence piles up to convince Ed otherwise, it’s too late – Pria is in control of the Orville.

Order season 1 on DVD and Blu-RayDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Seth MacFarlane
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by John Debney

The OrvilleCast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Halston Sage (Lt. Alara Kitan), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Charlize Theron (Captain Pria Levesque), Larry Joe Campbell (Chief Newton), Norm MacDonald (voice of Yaphit), Rachael MacFarlane (Computer Voice)

The OrvilleNotes: For the second time, a Star Trek veteran is behind the camera for an episode of The Orville (former Star Trek: The Next Generation star-turned-director Jonathan “Riker” Frakes), and the show boasts an A-list movie actor, though unlike Liam Neeson’s appearance earlier, Charlize Theron’s appearance was heavily promoted in the week before air.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Inhumans

Divide And Conquer

Marvel's InhumansThen: King Agon lectures his two sons, Black Bolt and Maximus, on the importance of the duties involved in taking the throne of Atillan. It’s obvious that Maximus relishes the power of the throne more than Black Bolt, even going so far as to ask if he becomes the heir-apparent should Black Bolt die. The brothers’ powers gradually make themselves known to the Genetic Council: Black Bolt’s voice could destroy Atillan, killing friends or enemies alike. And what makes Maximus unique? He’s not even Inhuman at all.

Now: Black Bolt, deposed King of Atillan, sits quietly in solitary confinement in Oahu. Gorgon continues his effort to lure Maximus’ security chief, Auran, into attacking before she’s ready. Gorgon has accumulated a small band of local former soldiers who say they’re up for a fight, but he’s worried that he may soon have human blood on his hands as a result, and Auran brings with her the incredibly powerful Mordis, leaving one of Gorgon’s recruits seriously wounded as they make their escape. Karnak thinks he’s found sanctuary at a farm, only to be held at knifepoint because he’s actually stumbled into the middle of a hidden marijuana growing operation. Medusa finds a better way to blend in, but becomes more obsessed with finding Black Bolt, who has befriended a fellow inmate with Inhuman powers. Black Bolt and his new ally break out of prison, but are whisked away by the enigmatic Dr. Declan before Medusa can intervene. Crystal, held prisoner in Atillan, is given one last chance to live…by endorsing “King Maximus” in public.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Rick Cleveland
based on the comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
directed by Chris Fisher
music by Sean Callery

InhumansCast: Cast: Anson Mount (Black Bolt), Serinda Swan (Medusa), Ken Leung (Karnak), Eme Ikwuakor (Gorgon), Isabelle Cornish (Crystal), Ellen Woglom (Louise), Iwan Rheon (Maximus), Sonya Balmores (Auran), Henry Ian Cusick (Dr. Evan Declan), Ty Quiamboa (Holo), Marco Rodriguez (Kitang), Michael Buie (King Agon), Tanya Clarke (Queen Rynda), Olo Alailima (Sammy), Bridger Zadina (Mordis), Sumire Matsubara (Locus), Jamie Gray Hyder (Jen), Michael Trotter (Reno), Ptolemy Slocum (Tibor), Ari Dalbert (Bronaja), Jason Quinn (Pulsus), Lofton Shaw (Young Black Bolt), Aidan Fiske (Young Maximus), John-Patrick Driscoll (Rivera), Matt Perfetuo (Sakas), Jeff Juett (Ted), Carlos Arellano (Captain Pena), Kala Alexander (Makani), Albert Ueligitone (Pablo), Krista Alvarez (Flora), Lei Kaholokula (Reporter), Joseph Kingsley (Assistant), Francisco Rodriguez (Jail Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not For The Lamb’s Cry

Star Trek: DiscoveryNo stardate given: Burnham, having been let in on the secret of Discovery‘s experimental “spore drive” that allows the ship to traverse trails of microscopic organic particles throughout space, is re-adjusting to wearing a Starfleet uniform (albeit one with no rank). Captain Lorca assigns Burnham to work on weaponizing the creature that nearly killed the Discovery boarding party aboard the Glenn, and assigns Commander Landry, Discovery‘s security chief, to work with her. Landry’s impatience leads to a fatal accident (for her), while Burnham continues to warn anyone who will listen that the creature, a kind of macroscopic alien tardigrade, is not inherently violent. A Klingon attack on one of the Federation’s most important dilithium mining facilities forces the Discovery into action, and the still-not-fully-functional spore drive must be used…whether it gets Discovery to the besieged planet, or drops it into a situation even more dangerous than a Klingon assault.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Jesse Alexander and Aron Eli Collette
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Rekha Sharma (Commander Landry), Dennis Andres (Engineer Rance), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Jordana Blake (Betarian Girl), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer Voice), Javid Iqbal (Voq), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Christopher Russell (Milton Richter), Tasia Valenzia (Shenzhou Computer Voice)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Corvan II is noted here for producing 40% of the Federation’s supply of dilithium crystals, but it’s also home to the endangered Corvan gilvo creature prized by Worf’s son Alexander in the TNG episode New Ground (1992). Kol hails from the Klingon House of Kor, which means he may or may not be related to Kor, the Klingon encountered by Kirk on the planet Organia (Errand Of Mercy, 1967). Macroscopic organisms are rare in Star Trek, but not unheard of, whether it’s the enormous energy-eating amoeba that nearly destroys the Enterprise (The Immunity Syndrome, 1968), or macroscopic viruses that swarm aboard Voyager (Macrocosm, 1996).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Gifted, The Season 1

rX

The GiftedStranded when Clarice is unable to keep the escape portal open, Reed Strucker is now in the hands of Sentinel Services. He demands to see an attorney, but it is clear that, simply by associating with mutants, he has been labeled a threat and relieved of any and all civil rights. If Sentinel Services can’t find Strucker’s children, they’re not above reeling in other family members who have no idea what’s going on.

Left physically exhausted by holding the portal open for so long, Clarice is unable to control random outbursts of her ability. Portals open at random to the street outside, where police are preparing to mount an assault on the mutants’ headquarters; Lauren Strucker has to use her ability to close off Clarice’s unintentional portals. When Lauren is exhausted, Andy directs his rage-fueled ability at the police outside, but this makes things worse: as with his school before, the building in which the mutants are taking shelter is no longer safe or stable. Clarice is injured and her unconscious random portal opening becomes a dangerous rapid-fire exercise in not accidentally falling through to an unknown location. Caitlin Strucker, a nurse before going on the run with her children, enlists Marco’s help to retrieve a drug that can stabilize Clarice, but their plan only draws more attention to what is seen as a growing mutant threat.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Matt Nix
based on the X-Men comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
directed by Len Wiseman
music by John Ottman & David Buckley

The GiftedCast: Stephen Moyer (Reed Strucker), Amy Acker (Caitlin Strucker), Sean Teale (Marcos Diaz / Eclipse), Natalie Alyn Lind (Lauren Strucker), Percy Hynes White (Andy Strucker), Coby Bell (Jace Turner), Jamie Ching (Clarice Fong / Blink), Blair Redford (John Proudstar / Thunderbird), Emma Dumont (Lorna Dane / Polaris), Garret Dillahunt (Dr. Roderick Campbell), Elena Satine (Dreamer), Folake Olowofoyeku (Scar), Chris Butler (Dr. Watkins), Sharon Gless (Ellen Strucker), Christian Adam (Obnoxious Guy #1), Aerli Austen (Amber), DAve Blamy (Father), Jacinte Blankenship (Mutant Mom), Christabelle Rose Chapman (Obnoxious Girl), Ava Culpepper (Daughter), Tony Demil (Guard #2), Jordan Eli (Young Boy), Katelyn Farrugia (Nurse), Dinarte de Freitas (Pedro), Monique Grant (Guard #1), Barbara Hawkins-Scott (Desk Nurse), Josh Henry (Ben), Jason Jamal Ligon (Side-Eye), Hayley Lovitt (Sage)

The GiftedNotes: It’s a Burn Notice reunion! The Gifted showrunner Matt Nix was also creator of the hit spy series Burn Notice, which starred former Cagney & Lacey star Sharon Gless as Michael Westen’s mother; here she plays Reed Strucker’s mother. Coby Bell, who joined Burn Notice in its third season as Jesse Porter, is a regular on The Gifted.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 12

Cured

Red DwarfCat’s critical misunderstanding of the game of poker is interrupted by the discovery of a centuries-old American base on a nearby moon, one which Kryten believes was the last outpost of a project to genetically breed the roots of evil out of human beings. Cryogenic tubes are labeled with the names of some of humanity’s worst offenders – Hitler, Vlad, Stalin, Messalina – brought back to life through genetic manipulation, as well as Professor Telford, presumably the scientist conducting the experiment. He claims these pillars of human evil are cured, and over dinner they do seem friendly enough, but aware of the Starbug crew’s suspicions. When those suspicions appear to be justified, how much evil will the Boys from the Dwarf have to employ to save their own skins?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Doug Naylor
directed by Doug Naylor
music by Howard Goodall

Red DwarfCast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), Adrian Lukis (Professor Telford), Ryan Gage (Hitler), Chloe Hawkins (Messalina), Callum Coates (Stalin), Philippe Spall (Vlad the Impaler)

Notes: The Dwarfers are better qualified than most to know whether or not they’re dealing with the real Hitler. After all, Lister stepped through Timeslides Red Dwarf(1989) to rumble with the Fuhrer, and a waxwork droid of Hitler led his unlikely troops into a Meltdown (1990) against Rimmer’s forces.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Orville, The Season 1

Krill

The OrvilleFor the third time in a month, a far-flung Union colony is under Krill attack, and the Orville answers the distress call despite being badly outgunned by the Krill cruiser it finds itself facing. But thanks to a desperate last-ditch maneuver ordered by Captain Mercer, not only does the Orville emerge victorious, but it retrieves an intact Krill shuttle from the resulting wreckage, giving Union engineers a unique chance to analyze Krill technology. But a Union admiral has other plans for the shuttle: Mercer and helmsman Gordon Malloy will assume Krill disguise and infiltrate the nearest Krill cruiser, trying to obtain a copy of the Krill’s holy book, as their religion dictates their drive for war. The infiltration goes smoothly enough, but when Mercer and Malloy discover that this cruiser is on a mission to finish the job left undone by the ship destroyed by the Orville, things become much deadlier.

Order season 1 on DVD and Blu-RayDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by David A. Goodman
directed by Jon Cassar
music by Joel McNeely

The OrvilleCast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Halston Sage (Lt. Alara Kitan), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Kelly Hu (Admiral Ozawa), Michaela McManus (Teleya), Dylan Kenin (Captain Haros), James Horan (Sazeron), Michael Dempsey (Mining Chief Harry Leidecker), Makabe Ganey (Coja), Gabriella Graves (Krill Girl Student), Caleb Brown (Krill Boy Student), Tim Neff (Krill Soldier), Brandon Melendy (Krill Guard), Jordan Lane Shappell (Krill Helmsman), Fred Tatasciore (Krill Voice)

The OrvilleNotes: James Horan is the latest Star Trek veteran drafted back into the service of The Orville, having appeared in TNG (Suspicions, Descent Part II), DS9 (In Purgatory’s Shadow), Voyager (Fair Trade), and throughout the run of Enterprise as the “Humanoid Figure” issuing orders from the future to Silik from the pilot episode forward.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Choose Your Pain

Star Trek: DiscoveryWith the secret of navigation with the spore drive finally unlocked – the enormous tardigrade-like creature must be harnessed to perform the navigation – the Discovery has been busy in the war with the Klingons. Starfleet Command even advises Captain Lorca to be less visible for fear that the Discovery‘s experimental drive system could be discovered by the Klingons, a fear that seems to be borne out when Lorca’s shuttle flight back to Discovery is cut short as a Klingon ship appears, and Klingon warriors board the shuttle in short order. Lorca is taken prisoner and, in captivity, meets a shifty human named Harry Mudd, also a Klingon prisoner, and a Starfleet officer named Ash Tyler, a prisoner of war since the battle at the binary stars. As Lorca endures Klingon torture and tries to plan an escape, Saru finds himself in command of Discovery by default with a crisis on his hands: the continual use of the spore drive is draining the tardigrade’s energy and sapping its will to live. Soon, it will be unable to help the Discovery crew find their missing captain.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazontelelplay by Kemp Powers
story by Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts & Kemp Powers
directed by Lee Rose
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Rainn Wilson (Harry Mudd), Conrad Coates (Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Simon Northwood (Shuttle Pilot), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Christopher Russell (Milton Richter), Kirk Salesman (Shuttle Klingon 1), Tyler Evan Webb (Shuttle Klingon 2)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Lorca’s previous command, the U.S.S. Buran, was named after the ultimately aborted Soviet-era Russian attempt to duplicate or improve upon the design of the American Space Shuttle. Faced with allowing his crew to fall into Klingon hands and endure torture or worse, Lorca blew up the Buran with all hands…as he escaped. Harry Mudd is seen here ten years before the events chronicled in the original Star Trek episode Mudd’s Women, and at this point is married to Stella (I, Mudd). The tactical plot seen very briefly on Discovery‘s bridge shows Rura Penthe (Star Trek VI, Enterprise: Judgment) and Khitomer (Star Trek VI, TNG: Sins Of The Father) in relation to the current outlines of Klingon and Federation space; Deep Space K-7 (TOS: The Trouble With Tribbles, Star Trek: DiscoveryTAS: More Tribbles, More Trouble, DS9: Trials And Tribble-ations) is perilously close to that boundary. Choose Your Pain has the dubious distinction of dropping Star Trek’s first F-bomb (thank you, Cadet Tilly), which drew a mixed reaction from some segments of the audience.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Rebels Season 4 Star Wars

Heroes Of Mandalore – Part 1

Star Wars: RebelsKanan, Chopper and Ezra return with Sabine to Mandalore to fight the Imperial occupation of that planet, only to find that they’ve walked into a trap designed to deliver Sabine into the hands of the Saxon family. With the help of Mandalorians and Jedi alike, Sabine escapes the trap, only the discover that her father is being moved to another facility for public execution. Sabine and her ragtag group of followers, now including Mandalorians from House Kryze, intercept the convoy transporting her father. A fierce fight ensues, but he is rescued – just before a sound very familiar to Sabine heralds a new tragedy about to strike.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Henry Gilroy & Steven Melching
directed by Steward Lee
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus / Stormtrooper #2), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb / Stormtrooper #3 / Stormtrooper #4), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Alrich Wren), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan Kryze), Andrew Kishino (Captain Hark / Stormtrooper #1 / Imperial Transport Driver #1), Kevin McKidd (Fenn Rau), Dave Filoni (Imperial Mandalorian Commander), Ritesh Rajan (Imperial Transport Driver #2 / Tristan Wren), Matthew Wood (Stormtrooper #5), Tobias Menzies (Tiber Saxon), Sharmila Devar (Ursa Wren)

RebelsNotes: Genre royalty peppers the cast of the two-part season opener, includuing Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from the reimagined 21st century version of Battlestar Galactica) and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, whose credits both in and out of the science fiction genre are almost too numerous to list here, including a regular role on the short-lived ’90s space opera Space Rangers, guest appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Alien Nation, Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1, and many others.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Rebels Season 4 Star Wars

Heroes Of Mandalore – Part 2

Star Wars: RebelsSabine’s family narrowly escapes the fate that befalls many Mandalorian warriors on the field of battle, their deaths caused by a weapon that Sabine designed before leaving Mandalore. The Empire has taken control of the weapon, which renders Mandalorian armor brittle to the point of uselessness, but the leader of House Saxon receives orders from Thrawn to take Sabine alive to further refine her creation. Sabine, however, has no intention of being taken prisoner either dead or alive…but she has to risk it to join a Mandalorian task force on a mission to destroy the weapon before it can be used again.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Christopher Yost
directed by Saul Ruiz
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus / Lead Viszla Warrior / TIE Fighter Pilot), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Alrich Wren), Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan Kryze), Andrew Kishino (Captain Hark / Lead Kryze Warrior), Kevin McKidd (Fenn Rau), Lars Mikkelsen (Grand Admiral Thrawn), Dave Fennoy (Kryze Pilot / Lead Eldar Warrior / Stormtrooper), Bonnie Wild (Lead Rook Warrior), Dave Filoni (Lead Wren Warrior), Tobias Menzies (Tiber Saxon), Ritesh Rajan (Tristan Wren), Sharmila Devar (Ursa Wren)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Star Trek Star Trek Continues Star Trek Fan Films

To Boldly Go – Part I

Star Trek ContinuesThis is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate 6988.4: The Enterprise is en route back to Earth. Her mission is complete, and the venerable decades-old starship is due for a major refit. But a communication from Starfleet changes the Enterprise‘s orders one last time: a distress call from a far-flung Federation colony has been received, and naturally the Enterprise is the only ship even remotely close enough to render aid. Arriving at the colony, Kirk and Spock have to defeat an automated defense system before they even set eyes on any living people. A human woman named Lana and her Vulcan husband, Sentek, claim to be the sole survivors of a disaster, but their story doesn’t quite add up. They are revealed to be uplifted Espers – humanoids with powerful psionic potential elevated by exposure to an energy barrier that surrounds the galaxy. They need a ship to rejoin their fellow Espers in a plan to conquer the entire Federation…and they have decided the Enterprise meets their needs nicely.

Watch Itteleplay by Robert J. Sawyer
story by Vic Mignogna & James Kerwin and Robert J. Sawyer
directed by James Kerwin
additional music by Vic Mignogna and Andy Farber

Cast: Vic Mignogna (Captain Kirk), Todd Haberkorn (Mr. Spock), Chuck Huber (Dr. McCoy), Chris Doohan (Mr. Scott), Nicola Bryant (Lana), Cas Anvar (Sentek), Amy Rydell (Romulan Commander), Mark Meer (Tal), April Hebert (Rear Admiral Thesp), Marina Sirtis (Computer Voice), Grant Imahara (Sulu), Kim Stinger (Uhura), Wyatt Lenhart Star Trek Continues(Chekov), Michele Specht (McKennah), Steven Dengler (Drake), Martin Bradford (Dr. M’Benga), Kipleigh Brown (Smith), Reuben Langdon (Dickerson), Cat Roberts (Palmer), Liz Wagner (Nurse Burke), Adam Dykstra (Relief Helmsman), Emie Morissette (Relief Navigator), Michael Parker (Romulan Lieutenant), Jessie Rusu (Transporter Chief), E. Patrick Hanavan III (Esper), Ed Obarowski (Esper), John Cerabino (Enterprise Crew), Sean Davis (Enterprise Crew), Amanda Denkler (Enterprise Crew), Savannah DePew (Enterprise Crew), Ashley Despot (Enterprise Crew), Natalie George (Enterprise Crew), Scott Grainger (Enterprise Crew), Ginger Holley (Enterprise Crew), Peter Lickteig (Enterprise Crew), B.J. Savage (Enterprise Crew), Thomas E. Surprenant (Enterprise Crew), Cassandra Tuten (Enterprise Crew), Kyle Warner (Enterprise Crew)

Star Trek ContinuesNotes: The Espers were first encountered in the second Star Trek pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before, when the Enterprise‘s original first officer, Gary Mitchell, and ship’s psychologist Elizabeth Dehner were uplifted during a brief encounter with the galactic barrier (which, for the record, is a fictional construct existing only in Star Trek mythology). The Romulan Commander was first encountered in The Enterprise Incident in the original series’ third season, and is here played by the daughter of the original actress, Joanna Linville. Nicola Bryant has decades of genre cred, stemming mostly from a single character, Perugilliam “Peri” Brown, companion of Doctor Who‘s sixth incarnation, a role she originated in 1984 and continues to play in Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio plays. Canadian actor Cas Anvar has appeared in everything from Are You Afraid Of The Dark? to a 2002 adaptation of Ursula K. LeGuin’s Lathe Of Star Trek ContinuesHeaven, to appearances in Lost, Argo, voice roles in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the regular role of Alex Kamal in The Expanse. Nebula Award-winning novelist Robert J. Sawyer is a lifelong Star Trek fan whose past TV credits include the series based on his novel, Flashforward. He also wrote for, and co-edited, the essay anthology Boarding The Enterprise with David Gerrold, a book which also counts theLogBook.com head writer Earl Green as one of its fact checkers and copy editors.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 12

Siliconia

Red DwarfKryten has located something of great value that Rimmer would rather leave tumbling through space: Lister’s guitar, jettisoned through an airlock long ago. During the mission to retrieve the guitar, Starbug itself is captured by a larger vessel crewed entirely by liberated mechanoids who have thrown of the shackles of servitude to their former owners. They begin trying to convince Kryten to join them, while Lister, Rimmer and Cat’s minds are transferred to new mechanoid bodies. They are sentenced to perform the lifetime of menial tasks that Kryten had performed for them in the past, and eventually their personalities will be subsumed into the subservient personality expected of a service mechanoid…unless they can find a way to escape that fate.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Doug Naylor
directed by Doug Naylor
music by Howard Goodall

Red DwarfCast: Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat), Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), Richard Glover (Wind), Laura Checkley (Areto), James Buckley (Rusty), Marcus Garvey (Chairbot Excalibur), Naomi Sheldon (Eagle), Nick Read (Incense)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Lethe

Star Trek: DiscoveryAmbassador Sarek departs Vulcan on a top-secret mission to try to negotiate, on behalf of the Federation, with the Klingons to end the war. En route, he discovers that his pilot is a member of an isolationist faction that favors withdrawing Vulcan from the Federation altogether. The pilot has dosed his own body with an explosive that will destroy the ship; though injured, Sarek manages to surround himself with a force field to survive, sending part of his katra to…

…Burnham collapses in the mess hall aboard Discovery, having just received Sarek’s telepathic distress call. She is surprised when Captain Lorca agrees to go on a rescue mission over Starfleet’s objections. As the wreckage of Sarek’s ship – one piece of which contains him as he clings to life – is in a dangerous nebula, Burnham can only search for the wreckage in a shuttle, piloted by Ash Tyler, who has been appointed Discovery’s new chief of security. But when Burnham is close enough to make contact with Sarek, he seems to not want her there. A secret lies in their shared past, one that he is fighting against letting her find out, even if it means he dies with that secret.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Joe Menosky & Ted Sullivan
directed by Douglas Aarniokoski
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), James Frain (Sarek), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Conrad Coates (Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Disocvery Computer), Luke Humphrey (V’Latak), Clare McConnell (Dennas), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Damon Runyan (Ujilli), Jonathan Whittaker (Vulcan Director)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: The katra was first mentioned in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984), and Sarek’s experiences in this episode may explain why he is adamant, bordering on emotional, about finding Spock’s katra in the opening scenes of that film. Burnham’s rejection by the Vulcan Expeditionary Group was actually engineered by Sarek, who was forced into choosing between enrolling Burnham or his son Spock; he chose in favor of the latter, only to be disappointed when Spock enlisted in Starfleet against Sarek’s wishes, rending the decision pointless. (Presumably, long before this had happened, Sybok of Star Trek V fame had gone his own way.) Extremist factions on Vulcan are known to have existed a century earlier (Enterprise: Awakening), a time during which knowledge of the katra was apparently not widespread, and will continue to crop up a century later (TNG: Gambit Part II, DS9: Field Of Fire). Burnham mentions a posting to a Constitution class vessel “like the Enterprise” is a prestige assignment, even though by this point the Enterprise may well be over 20 years old (which could explain many of the differences between the looks of Star Trek: Discoverythe original series and this series). As The Cage happened three years prior to Star Trek: Discovery, Burnham may have Spock in mind when she says this. The Discovery has at least a rudimentary holodeck, though it would seem that it is used only for combat simulations. (23rd century holodecks are not an anachronism, however: the animated episode The Practical Joker clearly shows a “holographic environment simulator” aboard the Enterprise.) In Greek mythology, the river Lethe would cause those who drank from it to forget, as presumably Sarek would like to.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Rebels Season 4 Star Wars

In The Name Of The Rebellion – Part 1

Star Wars: RebelsKanan, Sabine, Ezra and Chopper, fresh from Mandalore, return to the center of Rebel operations on the fourth moon of Yavin…just in time to see Hera, Wedge and other Y-Wing pilots make a barely-survivable emergency landing after a vital mission collapsed due to bad intel. With the Ghost crew reunited, Mon Mothma gives them new orders to modify an Imperial relay station, allowing the Rebellion to listen in. On the eve of the mission, Saw Gerrera transmits a hologram to Mon Mothma, challenging her authority in public: like it or not, war with the Empire is coming…and playing by the rules of engagement will get the Rebellion nowhere. When the relay station mission goes awry, and Saw intervenes, Ezra and Sabine suddenly have a new mission.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Gary Whitta
directed by Sergio Paez
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb / Rebel Officer), Phil LaMarr (Bail Organa / Stormtrooper), Derek Partridge (Commander Brom Titus), David Acord (Edrio Two Tubes), Michael Bell (General Dodonna), Dee Bradley Baker (Imperial Bridge Officer / Rex), David Oyelowo (Kallus), Genevienve O’Reilly (Mon Mothma), Forest Whitaker (Saw Gerrera), Nathan Kress (Wedge Antilles)

Notes: Edrio Two Tubes, introduced in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (taking place several years after this episode), gets his chronological introduction here, as does the U-Wing fighter first seen in that movie.

LogBook entry by Earl Green