Year: 2022

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Picard Season 2 Star Trek

Monsters

Star Trek: Picard

Inside Picard’s subconscious with him, Tallinn can only watch as Picard psychoanalyzes himself (in the guise of his own father, in a Starfleet uniform his father never wore) and constantly hearkens back to memories of his mother when he was a young boy. His memories center on the family chateau, and the tunnels beneath it, and other than fleeting glimpses of a physical struggle between his parents, Picard’s mind gives up only hints of anything further. He awakens and decides to go on the offensive, asking Guinan to summon Q, an ability he knows she possesses as an El-Aurian. Returning to La Sirena, Seven and Raffi discover that Agnes Jurati is, to some unknown but growing extent, occupied by the Borg Queen; Seven worries that their trip back in time may have brought a far greater danger with them than anything Q has done. After witnessing Tallinn’s mindlink with Picard in her clinic, Dr. Ramirez asks Rios, point-blank, who he is…and he tells her, and then takes her and her son to La Sirena to prove it. In a Los Angeles dive bar, the Queen-as-Jurati no longer cares how much attention she is drawing to herself. In another bar, Guinan uses an ancient ritual to bring Q to her and Picard…but instead they’re arrested in an FBI raid.

Order DVDswritten by Jane Maggs
directed by Joe Menendez
music by Jeff Russo
additional music by Sam Lucas

Star Trek: PicardCast: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Michelle Hurd (Commander Raffi Musiker), Orla Brady (Tallinn), Isa Briones (Kore Soong), Santiago Cabrera (Captain Cristobal Rios), James Callis (Maurice Picard), Madeline Wise (Yvette Picard), Sol Rodriguez (Dr. Teresa Ramirez), Ito Aghayere (Guinan), Jay Karnes (Agent Wells), Ivo Nandi (LeClerc), Steve Gutierrez (Ricardo), Dylan Von Halle (Young Picard), Marti Matulis (Prisoner), Oscar Torre (Bartender), Travis Walck (Jester), Cyrus Zoghi (Red Bearded Guy)

Star Trek: PicardNotes: Maurice Picard had been seen before, again courtesy of Q, in an older form in Tapestry (1993), though he had died some time before that (and, as he claims here, with his hair intact). Guinan’s ritual hand gestures were previously glimpsed in another comfrontation with Q in Q Who? (1989). Jay Karnes previously guest starred in another time-hopping Star Trek story (Voyager‘s Relativity episode in 1999), and his appearance here had some corners of internet fandom convinced that he must be playing the same character. Another guest star, James Callis, is better known to genre TV fans as Gaius Balter in the 21st century reboot of Battlestar Galactica.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Picard Season 2 Star Trek

Mercy

Star Trek: PicardIn FBI custody, Picard and Guinan begin to suspect that Agent Wells, their captor, may be acting without authorization. But whether he’s unhinged or not, Wells is also aware that Picard and a group of other uninvited guests were present at the Europa mission gala. Wells has Guinan taken to another room while he interrogates Picard. Guinan gets a visitor as well – Q finally appears, annoyed to find her on Earth in this time period. Raffi and Seven find Jurati, but everything points toward the Borg Queen being in complete control, until Jurati passes up an opportunity to kill Raffi. Having exposed Dr. Ramirez and her son to the truth, Rios finds that he can’t control anything on his ship, thanks to Borg encryption forced into his system by Jurati before she left. A message left for her by Q tells Kore everything about her past and her father’s history of genetic experimentation – and Q offers her the ability to step into the outside world. Picard turns the tables on Wells, asking why it’s so important for him to prove the existence of aliens in 2024, and the results dredged up from Wells’ childhood memories prove fascinating. Jurati, needing advanced electronic components to give her the ability to assimilate, finds an appropriately unethical ally in Adam Soong.

Order DVDswritten by Cindy Appel & Kirsten Beyer
directed by Joe Menendez
music by Jeff Russo
additional music by Sam Lucas

Star Trek: PicardCast: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Michelle Hurd (Commander Raffi Musiker), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Orla Brady (Tallinn), Isa Briones (Kore Soong), Santiago Cabrera (Captain Cristobal Rios), Brent Spiner (Adam Soong), John de Lancie (Q), Sol Rodriguez (Dr. Teresa Ramirez), Ito Aghayere (Guinan), Jay Karnes (Agent Wells), Kay Bess (La Sirena Computer), Jackson Garner (Young Wells), Steve Gutierrez (Ricardo), Nanrisa Lee (FBI Agent), Charles Maceo (Merc One), Eduardo Roman (Vulcan #1), Chuti Tiu (Vulcan #2), Oscar Torre (Bartender), Cyrus Zoghi (Red Bearded Guy)

Star Trek: PicardNotes: Seven’s memories of being assimilated at a young age were explored in more detail in numerous episodes of Star Trek: Voyager (The Raven, 1997; Dark Frontier Part I and Part II, 1999). Voyager fans who had spent the week since Monsters speculating that Jay Karnes’ Picard and Voyager characters were related were in for a letdown, but Agent Wells’ flashbacks to meeting Vulcans at a young age may (or, just as easily since they apparently had a ship with working transporters, may not) have had some connection to the Vulcans left behind on Earth to live in Carbon Creek (2002).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 1 Star Trek Strange New Worlds

Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: ProdigyStardate 1739.12: Recovering from his recent experiences involving the loss of the starship Discovery, Captain Christopher Pike has retreated to a cabin in Montana to ride horses, watch movies, and enjoy the companionship of Captain Batel of the U.S.S. Cayuga. But Batel must soon return to her ship, and Pike has been avoiding answering a persistent series of hails to his communicator… which brings new, less welcome company to his door: Admiral Robert April, with orders for Pike to be aboard the Enterprise in mere hours for an urgent mission to recover the ship’s missing first officer. Pike’s Number One, Commander Una Chin-Riley, opted to take part in a first contact mission aboard the U.S.S. Archer at planet Kiley 279 rather than taking shore leave; the Archer has gone silent.

At Kiley 279, the Enterprise finds a pre-warp civilization in turmoil, not a warp-capable society ready to make contact with the Federation. The crew determines that the warp signature that attracted that Archer was indeed warp technology, but geared toward manufacturing massively destructive weapons rather than a faster-than-light drive. Pike, Spock, and security chief La’an Noonien Singh beam down to Kiley, disguised as natives of that planet, to recover their missing contact team and to find out how they acquired the technology that they may yet use to obliterate themselves. It turns out that the scientists of Kiley merely watched nearby Federation starships in action – namely the incident that marked the last time anyone in the 23rd century saw the starship Discovery – and Pike decides that, as the Federation is responsible for bringing Kiley 279 to the brink of extinction, it’s his responsibility to stabilize the planet’s precarious peace, despite this violating Starfleet’s non-interference rules.

Order DVDsteleplay by Akiva Goldsman
story by Akiva Goldsman & Alex Kurtzman & Jenny Lumet
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Nami Melumad
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds main theme by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Ethan Peck (Lt. Spock), Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel), Christina Chong (Lt. La’an Noonien Singh), Celia Rose Gooding (Cadet Uhura), Melissa Navia (Lt. Erica Ortegas), Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M’Benga), Bruce Horak (Lt. Hemmer), Rebecca Romijn (Commander Una Chin-Riley), Adrian Holmes (Admiral Robert April), Dean Jeannotte (Lt. Samuel kirk), Gia Sandhu (T’Pring), Melanie Scrofano (Captain Batel), Samantha Smith (Eldredth), Carla Bennett (Palion Aide #2), Jon Blair (Kiley Guard #2), Peter Bou-Ghannam (Palion Leader), Marienne Castro (Shuttle Pilot), Bessie Cheng (Eldredth Aide #2), John Chou (Kiley Scientist #1), Joseph Daly (Eldredth Aide #1), Myles Dobson (Vulcan Waiter), Rong Fu (Jenna Mitchell), Chandra Galasso (Lieutenant), Jaimee Joe Gonzaga (Terminal Jockey #2), Sandy Kerr (Starfleet Scientist #1), Andre Dae Kim (Chief Kyle), David Kirby (Palion Aide #1), Joel Lacoursiere (Kiley Guard #1), Dana Levenson (Newscaster), Andrew Locke (Terminal Jockey #1), Etan Muskat (Starfleet Scientist #2), Daniel Pagett (Kiley Scientist #2), Rachel Sellan (Woman in Elevator)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: As these iterations of Captain Pike, Spock, and Una “Number One” Chin-Riley originated in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, there are numerous references to the events of that season, including the loss of Spock’s adopted sister Michael Burnham, Discovery‘s opening of a wormhole to the future, and Pike’s time-crystal-induced vision of his own future at the Klingon monastery on Boreth. Among the display of planets with which first contact is only now being conducted, other than Kiley 279, is Gamma Trianguli VI, also known as the planet dominated by Vaal (from the original series episode The Apple), Scalos (a planet which will later be found uninhabited in the original series episode Wink Of An Eye), and Xahea, which raises the strange possibility that Ensign Tilly’s meeting with Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po (Short Treks: Runaway) may have been among the first contacts with that world. Captain Pike has a fondness – perhaps, if you’re Captain Batel, too much fondness – for the 20th century film The Day The Earth Stood Still. Star Trek DiscoveryAdmiral Robert April later boarded the Enterprise with his wife en route to their retirement in the animated Star Trek episode The Counter-Clock Incident. That a shuttlecraft has been named after Discovery‘s Commander Stamets would seem to be in line with Starfleet’s (and Section 31’s) official cover story that Discovery was destroyed in the 23rd century, with all hands lost. (Of course, Discovery‘s adventures continued nearly a millennium later, chronicled in that series’ third season.) After enthusiastic fan response to Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn stepping into the roles of characters from Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek pilot The Cage in season two of Star Trek: Discovery, the characters were given further exposure in the second batch of Short Treks before Strange New Worlds was greenlit in 2020, during the summer of the COVID-19 lockdown. The series couldn’t begin filming until early 2021, and when it launched in 2022, it streamed concurrently with the finale episodes of Star Trek: Picard‘s second season. This premiere episode was the most-watched Paramount Plus original production of 2022; a second season had been greenlit before the first season premiered.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part I

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiTen years after the fall of the Republic and the birth of the Skywalker twins, exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi ekes out a minimal existence on Tatooine under the assumed name of Ben, working an ordinary job and keeping as low a profile as possible. When Imperial Inquisitors land in Mos Eisley in search of any Jedi Knights who survived the Empire’s purge of the Jedi order, they immediately finds not Kenobi, but a former youngling who has been using his abilities with the Force to aid a local saloon owner in exchange for shelter. The young Jedi seeks out Obi-Wan to ask for assistance, but Kenobi’s advice is to forget the Jedi order and survive by leading a normal life. The young Jedi does not heed this advice, and is killed by the Inquisitors in a grisly public display. The Inquisitors continue their search, with the Third Sister, Reva, threatening to kill moisture farmer Owen Lars if the whereabouts of other Jedi are not revealed. Owen doesn’t divulge Kenobi’s presence, though he harbors little affection for the Jedi. Reva, obsessed with finding Kenobi, is brought to heel by the Grand Inquisitor, but she simply changes her tactics. Reva hires a bounty hunter to abduct the young princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa, whose father is a known associate of Kenobi from the days of the Republic. Bail Organa pays Obi-Wan a visit to ask for the Jedi’s help to recover his daughter, leaving Obi-Wan little choice but to reluctantly resume his role as a guardian of peace and justice from a more civilized age.

teleplay by Joby Harold and Hossein Amini and Stuart Beattie
story by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amini
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Rupert Friend (Grand Inquisitor), Sung Kang (Fifth Brother), Moses Ingram (Reva), Benny Safdie (Nari), Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars), Bonnie Piesse (Beru Lars), Simone Kessell (Breha Organa), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Flea (Vect Nokru), Jimmy Smits (Senator Bail Organa), Ming Qiu (Jedi Master Minas Velti), Aiden Arnold (Jedi Youngling), Jonathan Ho (Jedi Youngling), Yonas Asuncion Kibreab (Jedi Youngling), Mila Lavin (Jedi Youngling), Ayaamii Sledge (Jedi Youngling), Derek Basco (saloon Owner), Kingsley Hao (Local Mos Eisley Boy), Heath McGough (Foreman Groff Ditcher), Chad Parker (Worker Padu Chend), Leilani Shiu (Teeka), Grant Feely (Luke Skywalker), Molly Miller (Handmaiden Agira), Hossein Mardani (Dardin Shull), Karen Constantine (Local Anchorhead Woman), Gabe Fonesca (Duke Kayo Organa), Roberta Sparta (Duchess Celly Organa), Ian Inigo (Cousin Niano Organa), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Aviel Ayoung (Mercenary #1), Amy Sturdivant (Mercenary #2), Sonia Jackson (Attendant)

Obi-Wan KenobiNotes: Based on, and expanded from, what was originally intended to be a future entry in the curtailed series of self-contained Star Wars “anthology” films, this series brought back numerous familiar faces from the prequel trilogy, most notably star and executive producer Ewan McGregor, Jimmy Smits, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Simone Kessell, and – in later episodes – Hayden Christensen. The ties to the prequel trilogy are strong with this one, including a flashback to younglings attempting to escape from the Order 66 purge of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but the ties to the animated series Rebels are also numerous, including the first live-action Inquisitors.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part II

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiObi-Wan arrives on Daiyu, searching for the kidnapped young Princess Leia Organa. He learns on the street of a Jedi who helps those in need, but, following that lead, finds a con man named Haja posing as a Jedi, his help to the downtrodden costing his marks everything they have. Obi-Wan turns the tables on Haja to get his help at a substantial discount. This leads him to a building where illegal substances are prepared for sale on the street – and, in a secluded room within, he finds two things: the missing Princess, and bounty hunter Vect Nokru and his thugs. Leia doesn’t know or trust Obi-Wan, and runs from him – and runs face-first into trouble, until Obi-Wan proves that he truly is a Jedi Knight. But this only brings more attention to him, and reveals to the Grand Inquisitor that Reva is pulling the strings to draw Kenobi out for reasons of her own. With an entire city of stormtroopers bearing down on them, Obi-Wan and Leia are unexpectedly given a new escape route by Haja, but Reva is waiting to try to cut off their escape – and reveals to Obi-Wan that Anakin Skywalker still lives, though not in a form that his old teacher would recognize.

teleplay by Joby Harold
story by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amini
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Kumail Nanjiani (Haja Estree), Marisé Álvarez (Nyche), Flea (Vect Nokru), Moses Ingram (Reva), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Rupert Friend (Grand Inquisitor), Sung Kang (Fifth Brother), Rya Kihlstedt (Fourth Sister), Hayden Christensen (Darth Vader), Dan Considine (Deck Officer Densin Clord), Temuera Morrison (Veteran Clone Trooper), Esther-Rose McGregor (Tetha Grig), Jecobi Swain (Jayco), Indie Desroches (Corran), Tom O’Connell (Spice Den Guard #1), Cha-Leen Yoon (Spice Den Guard #2), Aviel Ayoung (Mercenary #1), Amy Sturdivant (Mercenary #2), Mackensi Emory (Spice Runner #1), Phong Giang (Spice Runner #2), Mario Filippi (Spice Runner #3)

Notes: The young woman who tries to sell Obi-Wan spice – who was “someone’s daughter once too” – is in fact played by Ewan McGregor’s daughter.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part III

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiFleeing from Daiyu aboard an automated cargo freighter, Obi-Wan finds himself on the receiving end of questions from Leia about the Force. They arrive on a planet in the Mapuzo system, heavily mined by the Empire, where Haja said help would be waiting, though the exact coordinates are behind an Imperial checkpoint, and Obi-Wan’s furtive behavior is enough to raise suspicion and start a firefight. When a second contingent of stormtroopers arrives, they are cut down by blaster fire from their own commanding officer, Tala, who is the contact Obi-Wan and Leia have been looking for. Tala introduces them to the Path, a clandestine network of waypoints and safe houses that have been used to conceal surviving members of the Jedi order. But before they can leave, a new Imperial presence arrives – the Inquisitors and Darth Vader himself, making a spectacle of tormenting to locals in order to draw Obi-Wan out. He tells Leia to go to the next transport on her own, and charges Tala with ensuring the girl’s safety. Obi-Wan sets out to distract Vader from the girl, but even with that as his only goal, the confrontation does not go well for the out-of-practice Jedi. Reva, in the meantime, having engineered her ascension within the ranks of the Inquisitors, finds that her “sisters” and “brothers” are not as accepting of her tactics.

written by by Joby Harold & Hannah Friedman and Hossein Amini and Stuart Beattie
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Moses Ingram (Reva), Sung Kang (Fifth Brother), Rya Kihlstedt (Fourth Sister), Zach Braff (Freck), Indira Varma (Tala Durith), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), Hayden Christensen (Darth Vader), A.J. Troup (Stormtrooper #1), Shane Hartline (Stormtrooper #2), Ardeshir Radpour (Checkpoint Stormtrooper), Melanie Mosley (Safehouse Stormtrooper #1), Will Westwater (Safehouse Stormtrooper #2), Dimitrious Bistrevsky (Darth Vader performance artist), John Rosengrant (Freck performance artist), Dustin Ceithamer (NED-B performance artist)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Orville, The Season 3: New Horizons

Electric Sheep

The Orville: New HorizonsIn the Union’s orbital docks near Earth, the Orville undergoes extensive engineering refits and takes on new crew members, including one Ensign Charly Burke, late of the U.S.S. Quimby and one of the few survivors of that ship’s destruction in the Kaylon battle near Earth the previous year. In the mess hall, Burke makes it clear to Isaac that she is far from the only member of the crew who questions his reinstatement – and that she wants as little to do with him as possible. When Isaac returns to the science lab, he finds the word “MURDERER” scrawled across the controls in red paint, with great care taken to cover the tracks of the responsible party. But the message is eventually traced to Marcus Finn, Dr. Finn’s oldest son, who has also been disturbed by Isaac’s presence since the Kaylon attack. Perceiving that he is at the center of an ongoing series of incidents of distraction and inefficiency on the part of the crew, Isaac makes what he believes is a logical decision to terminate his own existence. What he does not anticipate is that this “unemotional” decision sparks extreme emotions among his crewmates, leading to a series of desperate attempts to reverse the damage and revive him. Isaac’s “life” now lies in the hands of someone who’s more than happy that he’s dead.

written by Seth MacFarlane
directed by Seth MacFarlane
music by Kevin Kaska

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), Jessica Szohr (Lt. Talla Keyali), J Lee (Lt. Commander John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Anne Winters (Ensign Charly Burke), Kai Di’Nilo Wener (Marcus Finn), B.J. Tanner (Ty Finn), Alexis Knapp (Irillia), Mike Henry (Dann), Jim Mahoney (Brosk), Norm MacDonald (Yaphit), Amanda Joy Erickson (Amanda), Kyra Santoro (Lt. Turco), Deep Rai (Crewman), Jonny Siew (Engineer #1)

The OrvilleNotes: Bearing the subtitle “New Horizons”, this is the long-delayed third season premiere of The Orville, initially announced in 2019 as an exclusive for streaming service Hulu after The Orville was removed from the Fox schedule. But like many other series intended to premiere in 2020, The Orville had to shut down production at the height of the COVID-19 lockdown, and only began shooting again in late 2020 after series creator/star/showrunner Seth MacFarlane brought in hand-picked virology consultants. (With his avid interest in science, as demonstrated in his producing the revived Cosmos series for Fox, MacFarlane knew who to call.) Production stopped and started again in 2021, and the extent of VFX work needed meant that the third season got a March 2022 premiere date, which then slipped to June of that year. The episode is dedicated to the late Norm MacDonald, the voice of Yaphit, who died in 2021 before the series’ return, but had recorded all of Yaphit’s dialogue prior to his death.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part IV

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiSmuggled away from Mapuzo by Tala and her reprogrammed mining droid, Obi-Wan awakens in a bacta tank on Jabiim, at one of the safehouses on the Path. But Leia has been taken to an Imperial complex on Nur, an ocean moon of Mustafar, where Reva shows little restraint in interrogating her, despite the fact that her prisoner is a ten-year-old girl. Obi-Wan tries to convince Tala and a pilot named Roken to assist him in recovering Leia, with Tala noting that Leia knows enough about the Path to destroy the entire underground operation keeping the last few Jedi alive. A small rescue mission is approved, but the entire plan depends on Tala’s cover as an Imperial officer still being intact, and Obi-Wan being able to muster enough of his former prowess with the Force to keep both of them, and Leia, alive long enough to escape.

written by by Joby Harold & Hannah Friedman
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Indira Varma (Tala Durith), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Moses Ingram (Reva), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Roken), Maya Erskine (Sully), Sung Kang (Fifth Brother), Rya Kihlstedt (Fourth Sister), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), Hayden Christensen (Darth Vader), Ryder McLaughlin (Wade Resselian), Joss Glennie-Smith (Fortress Inquisitorius Security Guard), David Will No (Fortress Inquisitorius Terminal Officer), Jonathan Ho (Jedi Youngling), Oliver Ho (Jedi Youngling), Helen Day (Fortress Inquisitorius Officer), Dimitrious Bistrevsky (Darth Vader performance artist)

Notes: The disturbing sight of various captured Jedi – including younglings – being kept in the bowels of Fortress Inquisitorius like biological specimens may hint at the Empire’s secret project to harvest midichlorians, which continues as far in the future as The Mandalorian and Moff Gideon’s repeated attempts to capture Grogu, Obi-Wan Kenobiand possibly as far forward as the creation of Snoke and the rebirth of Emperor Palpatine in the sequel trilogy. The vehicles that have been known for over 40 years as Rebel snowspeeders may have been incorrectly identified, as we see them operating in a decidedly non-winter-weather environment here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part V

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiObi-Wan, Tala, and Roken arrive back on Jabiim with Leia, unaware that Reva has planted a tracking device on Leia’s droid, L0-LA. Vader and Reva are already en route to Jabiim, and this particular safehouse on the Path will need to be evacuated in short order…except that Obi-Wan’s pursuers have already anticipated that. L0-LA, under Reva’s control, seals the launch doors, leaving the transports unable to lift off, and trapping countless civilian refugees in the middle of what seems like an ensuing battle between Vader and Kenobi. Leia works to undo L0-LA’s damage, while Obi-Wan finally realizes that Reva herself was a Jedi padawan who survived Order 66; her grudge is not just with him, but with Vader. In order to use Vader’s impatience against him, Obi-Wan plans to give everyone time to escape, while also evading a confrontation with Vader himself. But the cost of this plan, for many, will be very high.

written by by Joby Harold & Andrew Stanton
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Moses Ingram (Reva), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Roken), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Maya Erskine (Sully), Indira Varma (Tala Durith), Kumail Nanjiani (Haja Estree), Marisé Álvarez (Nyche), Rupert Friend (Grand Inquisitor), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), Crispian Belfrage (Devastator Captain), Indie Desroches (Corran), Aiden Arnold (Jedi Youngling), Jonathan Ho (Jedi Youngling), Oliver Ho (Jedi Youngling), Yonas Ascuncion Kibreab (Jedi Youngling), Mila Lanin (Jedi Youngling), Ayaamii Sledge (Jedi Youngling), Grant Feely (Luke Skywalker), Dimitrious Bistrevsky (Darth Vader performance artist), Dustin Ceithamer (NED-B performance artist)

Obi-Wan KenobiNotes: Apparently, surviving being run through with a lightsaber, without any apparent immediate medical attention, is a thing that can be done now. It may or may not depend on damage done to major organs. This episode contains flashbacks both to Vader’s assault on the Jedi Temple in Revenge Of The Sith as well as sparring matches between Anakin and Obi-Wan that most likely happen shortly before Attack Of The Clones.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part VI

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiHaving narrowly escaped Jabiim, the transport ship of refugees is trailed closely by Vader in the Devastator. But there is a further wild card in the situation – Reva has barely survived her fight with Vader and has discovered the locations and identities of Vader’s children. Having lost Leia, Reva now goes to Tatooine to find young Luke Skywalker. Her unsubtle questioning of the locals gives Owen and Beru time to prepare to fight her when she arrives. Obi-Wan leaves the transport in a dropship, certain that Vader will break off his pursuit to follow him rather than the refugees. A furious lightsaber battle ensues, during which Obi-Wan is able to do critical damage to Vader’s life support suit. Perhaps realizing that, while Vader is dangerous, he remains vulnerable to his feelings and capable of major tactical errors as a result, Obi-Wan leaves him alive but unable to fight. The Jedi then races to the aid of Luke, whose peril he senses through the Force, but it is Reva who brings the boy back to Owen and Beru of her own accord. Ben tries to absolve her of her past, and tells her that her future is for her to decide now; her inability to kill a child as casually as Vader once did is a strength rather than a weakness. After ensuring that Leia has been returned to Alderaan, Obi-Wan returns to Tatooine, agreeing to keep his distance from the Lars homestead, but is surprised when Owen introduces him to ten-year-old Luke despite that promise. And with the recent reawakening of his mastery of the Force, Obi-Wan has one further surprise waiting for him as he goes back into exile.

teleplay by by Joby Harold & Andrew Stanton and Hossein Amini
story by Stuart Beattie and Joby Harold & Andrew Stanton
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Moses Ingram (Reva), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Kumail Nanjiani (Haja Estree), Marisé Álvarez (Nyche), O’Shea Jackson Jr. (Roken), Maya Erskine (Sully), Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars), Bonnie Piesse (Beru Lars), Rupert Friend (Grand Inquisitor), Simone Kessell (Breha Organa), Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine), James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader), Jimmy Smits (Bail Organa), Hayden Christensen (Darth Vader), Hossein Mardani (Dardin Shull), Heath McGough (Foreman Groff Ditcher), Indie Desroches (Corran), Crispian Belfrage (Devastator Captain), Grant Feely (Luke Skywalker), Aiden Arnold (Jedi Youngling), Jonathan Ho (Jedi Youngling), Oliver Ho (Jedi Youngling), Yonas Ascuncion Kibreab (Jedi Youngling), Mila Lanin (Jedi Youngling), Ayaamii Sledge (Jedi Youngling), David St. Pierre (Supply Store Clerk performance artist), Dimitrious Bistrevsky (Darth Vader performance artist), Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn)

Obi-Wan KenobiNotes: The “unmasking of Vader” scene is very similar to a scene that occurs in the Star Wars: Rebels episode Twilight Of The Apprentice Part 2 (2016), in which it is Anakin Skywalker’s former padawan, Ahsoka Tano, who destroys half of Vader’s mask in a lightsaber duel. (At least each of Anakin’s old friends destroyed different sides of the helmet.) The original storyline for Obi-Wan Kenobi featured Darth Maul, not Darth Vader, though it fell to Dave Filoni to point out that a final duel between Kenobi and Maul had already been depicted in the Rebels episode Twin Suns (2017), and there was therefore no need to depict it again (or create a conflicting version of events, something that happened frequently in the early days of the Clone Wars animated series and the related publishing program). Twin Suns, as with most of Rebels, occurs much closer to the events of Rogue One and Star Wars than those of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 03 Star Trek

Grounded

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate not given: With Captain Freeman’s Starfleet tribunal continuing, and everyone around her seemingly convinced of the charges that Freeman secretly destroyed Pakled Planet, Mariner is going stir crazy during shore leave on Earth. She sees it as her duty, and hers alone, to help her mother out of this tight spot…but that doesn’t mean she won’t recruit her fellow ensigns to help her steal the Cerritos and set things right. But that doesn’t mean that Boimler, Rutherford or Tendi will let her go it alone. Somewhere between those conflicting objectives… Captain Freeman will need help to come from another source.

Order DVDswritten by Chris Kula
directed by Jason Zurek
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), James Cromwell (Dr. Zefram Cochrane), Carlos Alazraqui (Admiral Les Buenamigo), Phil Lamarr (Admiral Alonzo Freeman), Bobby Moynihan (Gavin), Kari Wahlgren (Sylvia Ront)

Notes: Bozeman, Montana is now a tourist attraction with an automated replica of Zefram Cochrane’s Phoenix taking visitors on a pre-programmed route recreating Cochrane’s first warp flight (as seen in Star Trek: First Contact), with a hologram of Cochrane as its pilot. (Jerry Goldsmith‘s theme from that movie is also heard, as is Cochrane’s preferred traveling Star Trek: Lower Decksmusic, Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride”.) This is the second Star Trek series in which James Cromwell has reprised the role of Cochrane from First Contact (he also appeared in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Enterprise). Captain Morgan Bateston (TNG: Cause And Effect) and Tuvok (Star Trek: Voyager) are instrumental in the mission to clear Captain Freeman’s name, though neither character has lines in this episode. Tendi and Rutherford are diving into the gumbo as Sisko’s Creole Kitchen, a restaurant seen in quite a few episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Apparently Starfleet has a long tradition of Earth-based transporter chiefs being incapacitated while unauthorized use is made of their transporters to beam aboard restricted vessels (Star Trek III: The Search For Spock). Guest star Carlos Alazraqui is the father of Star Trek: Prodigy regular Rylee Alazraqui, who provides the voice of Rok-Tahk. Strange as it may seem, Boimler’s log entries reveal that purple is not his natural hair color.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
2022-2023 Specials Doctor Who New Series Season 13 (Flux)

The Power Of The Doctor

Doctor WhoThe Doctor, Yaz, and Dan intercept a Cybermaster attack force as it launches an assault on a hyperspace train. The Cybermasters are targeting a container holding a Gallifreyan girl. During the battle, Dan barely survives a breach of his spacesuit helmet, and decides to leave the TARDIS and resume a life that, while it may be less exciting, is also far less dangerous. On Earth, former time travelers Ace and Tegan now work for UNIT, each of them chasing down different unusual events: Tegan is trying to retrace the steps of seismologists who have gone missing, while Ace is investigating a series of paintings that have been abruptly removed from public display. The Doctor receives a warning from a Dalek of an imminent attack on Earth, and, surprisingly, an offer of information to prevent that attack. But the message ends before any useful information can be conveyed, and the Doctor’s attention returns to tracking down the Gallifreyan child… and the fact that there’s suddenly an extra planet near Earth’s orbit in the year 1916 – the same year in which the Master is posing as Rasputin in Russia.

The Doctor and Yaz visit the extraneous planet, finding that the Gallifreyan child is simply a disguise employed by a Qurunx, a powerful sentient energy being chained to a Cyber-conversion planet by the Master and the Cybermen. But before the Doctor can unravel that mystery, the TARDIS is summoned to UNIT HQ in 2022, where Kate Lethbridge-Stewart needs the Doctor’s expertise on the parallel mysteries of the missing paintings and missing seismologists, which seem like a distraction from the events in 1916…until the Master’s hand is detected in the disappearances as well. The Doctor is briefly, awkwardly reunited with Ace and Tegan, but soon resumes the chase, tracking down the Master in Naples, and discovering he is responsible for killing the missing seismologists. UNIT takes the Master into custody, but this is exactly what he wants, as this allows him to bring an entire Cyber invasion force directly into UNIT HQ. The Doctor and Yaz, however, have already left again, once again following a lead from the Dalek’s message, leaving Ace and Tegan to try to help fend off the Cyberman attack. As Yaz anticipates, the Dalek message proves to be a trap. The Doctor is taken back to 1916 Russia, where the Master instigates a forced regeneration during which his consciousness is forced into the Doctor’s body, as Yaz is helpless to watch.

But the Doctor’s friends and allies, past and present, are legion. Yaz, with help from Vinder, Ace, and Graham, and with some helpful advice from a hologram of the Doctor, reverses the forced regeneration and thwarts the Daleks’ plan, and arrive just in time to see Tegan and Kate Stewart end the attempted Cyberman invasion. Even the Qurunx is freed. As the Doctor’s former companions return to their normal lives, Yaz prepares to return to hers, as the Doctor’s body, as a result of the trauma caused by the forced regeneration, is once more wearing a bit thin.

Order the DVDwritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by Jamie Magnus Stone
music by Segun Akinola

Doctor Who: The Power Of The DoctorCast: Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan), John Bishop (Dan Lewis), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), David Bradley (The Doctor), Colin Baker (The Doctor), Peter Davison (The Doctor), Paul McGann (The Doctor), Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Jo Martin (The Doctor), David Tennant (The Doctor), Sacha Dhawan (The Master), Jemma Redgrave (Kate Stewart), Jacob Anderson (Vinder), Bradley Walsh (Graham O’Brien), Patrick O’Kane (Ashad), Joe Sims (Deputy Marshal Arnhost), Sanchia McCormack (Train Marshal Halaz), Danielle Bjelic (Curator), Anna Andresen (Alexandra), Richard Dempsey (Nicholas), Jos Slovick (Messenger), Nicholas Briggs (Dalek voices / Cybermen voices), Barnaby Edwards (Dalek), Nicholas Pegg (Dalek), Simon Carew (Cyberman), Jon Davey (Cyberman), Chester Durrant (Cyberman), Mickey Lewis (Cyberman), Felix Young (Cyberman), Richard Price (Cyberman), Andrew Cross (Cyberman), Matt Doman (Cyberman), Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush), Katy Manning (Jo Jones), William Russell (Ian Chesterton)

Doctor Who: The Power Of The DoctorNotes: This marks the first televised appearance of Tegan and Ace since their final TV appearances, in Resurrection Of The Daleks (1984) and Survival (1989), respectively. Dialogue for both characters seems to contradict adventures chronicled in other media. Ace says the last time she saw the Master, he was “half cat” (which would seem to indicate she hasn’t seen him since Survival, contradicting the New Adventures novel First Frontier); Tegan hasn’t seen the Doctor in 38 years, contradicting the Big Finish audio story The Gathering, which reunited an older Tegan with the fifth Doctor in 2006. However, the Master’s description of Ace’s eventual falling-out with the seventh Doctor lines up well with both the 1992 New Adventures novel Love And War and the later Big Finish audio adaptation of that novel, so perhaps this is something to blame on the wibbly-wobbliness of time. Tegan and Ace aren’t the only companions making their first appearances in a very long time; Melanie was last seen in Dragonfire (1987), and Ian Chesterton was last seen in The Chase (1966), winning William Russell the official Guinness World Record for the longest time between television appearances as the same character (56 years). Jo Jones (formerly Jo Grant), on the other hand, had made a relatively recent appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures (The Death Of The Doctor, 2011). All of these actors, however, have been reprising their roles for Big Finish audio productions for many years. The Doctor says the Master couldn’t “corral Daleks and Cybermen” (see also: Frontier In Space and The Five Doctors, respectively). The Master also tried to forcibly steal the Doctor’s body in the 1996 TV movie, though in that instance the process was interrupted. Other than being the finale for Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and Chris Chibnall as showrunner, The Power Of The Doctor was also intended to celebrate 100 years of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

LogBook entry by Earl Green