I just posted the last Star Trek review. As I explained somewhere, the main idea I had was to highlight the progressive politics of ST. That was about 1/3; using the plot of the episodes as an excuse, about 1/3 of the time I was discussing real world politics similar to what was happening in the episodes; and 1/3 I was making brief, non-political comments about the episodes, as well as rating them with between one and five stars.
I wish there was more political content- I had nothing to comment on politically for about 1/2 of all the episodes, even more for Voyager and The Next Generation. But I’m still glad I did it.
I’m now going to start watching Star Trek: Enterprise, but from what I remember there’s almost zero political content at all, except for one whole season which seems to be inspired by a moderate (not progressive) look at 9/11. So I’m not going to do any reviews of that. UPDATE 1/29/10 After watching the first of four seasons, I think there might be enough good liberal-progressive material to justify doing reviews; If that's what I notice with the last 3 seasons, then next time I watch ENT, in about 2 years, I'll do reviews.
Unless I start doing a better job of following the news (looking at everything, I’ve been reading about 60 articles a week) this will probably be the last post I do. The blog contains almost nothing that will be affected by current events. Which also means that you can and should read the earlier posts and feel free to comment on them. (the earlier posts are NOT Star Trek reviews, they are mostly essays about the themes of this blog)
I think that’s it.
Tom
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Star Trek: The Next Generation Reviews KK
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Firstborn” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Bloodlines” See this for a plot summary.
We learn that people sentenced to do time in the Ferengi prison system can BUY their way out. Makes the Ferengi state and ferengi society even less attractive.
I give it one star out of five.
“Emergence” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Pre-Emptive Strike” See this for a plot summary.
This is about the Maquis. My feelings about them are discussed here where I am reviewing the two-parter “The Maquis.” I’d say that this episode has nudged me a bit towards being fairly sympathetic to the Maquis.
I give it three stars out of five.
“All Good Things...” See this and this for a plot summary.
A non-political two-part series finale. I would give it three stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Firstborn” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Bloodlines” See this for a plot summary.
We learn that people sentenced to do time in the Ferengi prison system can BUY their way out. Makes the Ferengi state and ferengi society even less attractive.
I give it one star out of five.
“Emergence” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Pre-Emptive Strike” See this for a plot summary.
This is about the Maquis. My feelings about them are discussed here where I am reviewing the two-parter “The Maquis.” I’d say that this episode has nudged me a bit towards being fairly sympathetic to the Maquis.
I give it three stars out of five.
“All Good Things...” See this and this for a plot summary.
A non-political two-part series finale. I would give it three stars out of five.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Star Trek: The Next Generation Reviews JJ
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Masks” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Eye of the Beholder” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Genesis” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Journey’s End” See this for a plot summary.
A fairly political episode, largely about how American Indians were treated the first several centuries after Colombus crossed the Atlantic. The Indians also discover that an ancestor of Picard’s took part in the brutal repression of an American Indian rebellion centuries earlier.
I give it three stars out of five (the part about Wesley Crusher kind of annoys me- if it weren’t for that I’d give four stars).
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Masks” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Eye of the Beholder” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Genesis” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Journey’s End” See this for a plot summary.
A fairly political episode, largely about how American Indians were treated the first several centuries after Colombus crossed the Atlantic. The Indians also discover that an ancestor of Picard’s took part in the brutal repression of an American Indian rebellion centuries earlier.
I give it three stars out of five (the part about Wesley Crusher kind of annoys me- if it weren’t for that I’d give four stars).
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Star Trek: The Next Generation Reviews II
This is one of my posts where I “review” Star Trek episodes. I will be giving each one a star rating. I sometimes will make some comments about non-political parts of them that I like or don’t like. I’ll sometimes use the issues raised in the episode to discuss similar issues in real life. And I will sometimes simply high-light the progressive politics of ST. ST is in-line with the three original themes of this blog, as I explain in the first ST post where I offer some general thoughts about ST.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Force of Nature” See this for a plot summary.
A very environmental episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Inheritance” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Parallels” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“The Pegasus” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Homeward” See this for a plot summary.
A sort of political episode as it raises issues about technologically advanced cultures interacting with indigenous populations who are much less advanced. I have mixed feelings about what they do- they risked exposing such a population to advanced technology- an experience that would probably be traumatic for most of them. On the other hand, they did save that culture from being extinguished.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Sub Rosa” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give one star out of five.
“Lower Decks” See this for a plot summary.
Although he seems more concerned about peace than democracy, and he seems to not be a dissident regarding the occupation of Bajor, there is a Cardassian dissident providing intelligence to the Federation. That sort of thing, work for peace and in the direction of democracy (with peace, the power of Cardassian senior military officers would diminish and that would probably make creating a democracy on Cardassia more possible) is fairly inspirational.
UPDATE 1/12/12 I should have added this a long time ago, but I DO find the Arab Spring inspirational and I do support it.
I give it four stars out of five.
“Thine Own Self” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political story. I give it four stars out of five.
I’m not very familiar with The Original Series and there might be some small amount of material there that would affect what I say about Star Trek (i.e. how often religion is mentioned)
Lastly. multi-culturalism is such a pervasive theme in ST that I only comment on it when it goes beyond the norm (i.e. inter-species partners).
“Force of Nature” See this for a plot summary.
A very environmental episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Inheritance” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it two stars out of five.
“Parallels” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“The Pegasus” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give it three stars out of five.
“Homeward” See this for a plot summary.
A sort of political episode as it raises issues about technologically advanced cultures interacting with indigenous populations who are much less advanced. I have mixed feelings about what they do- they risked exposing such a population to advanced technology- an experience that would probably be traumatic for most of them. On the other hand, they did save that culture from being extinguished.
I give it three stars out of five.
“Sub Rosa” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political episode. I give one star out of five.
“Lower Decks” See this for a plot summary.
Although he seems more concerned about peace than democracy, and he seems to not be a dissident regarding the occupation of Bajor, there is a Cardassian dissident providing intelligence to the Federation. That sort of thing, work for peace and in the direction of democracy (with peace, the power of Cardassian senior military officers would diminish and that would probably make creating a democracy on Cardassia more possible) is fairly inspirational.
UPDATE 1/12/12 I should have added this a long time ago, but I DO find the Arab Spring inspirational and I do support it.
I give it four stars out of five.
“Thine Own Self” See this for a plot summary.
A non-political story. I give it four stars out of five.
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