Sunday, July 14, 2013

The Young Naturalist #7


It's DS9--there's no way I can keep myself from continuing the Young Naturalist series with a Cardassian Vole:


6 comments:

  1. They made these creepy-crawlies just alien enough to look like they'd come from the same place Cardasians did. Super-sized rats... eyes: extra-beady. Blah

    :)

    Guess who's 10 episodes-in to the first season of TOS? I've never watched it before, but I bought all 3 seasons from Amazon for like 90 dollars on Bluray. It's insufferably boring, but I WILL get through it. lol

    Just watched "The Menagerie" and I'd have to say it was the most engaging story yet. 'Hope it gets better. :)

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    1. Did the pilot come in your set, Johnny? The Menagerie is such a strange basically clip show episode with clips from the pilot. I do hope you have an easier time getting into it once you're more used to it. It's always a little jarring at first after watching the more modern series but I think it's really interesting that each of the series appeals differently to different people. Let me know how the watching goes!

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  2. Hmmmm... I don't know if The Cage is in the sets or not. You would think it would be at the beginning of Season 1 or the end of Season 3 if I've got it at all, but it was not the former. It's gotta be in there somewhere. These bluray sets are pretty impressive with the content. And I really do find the updated effects make it so much easier to "settle-in" and engage in the story rather than "bristling" at how crappy everything looks. (The Enterprise looks beautiful!!!)

    I've paused for now, after finishing "The Conscience of the King" (which was a pretty good episode/an early introduction to the "Shakespearean" tones that Trek seems to have always leaned towards.) Thus far though... I'd say the most interesting thing I've realized is that of all the Captains that came afterwards (and I really, honestly loved them all) I have to say that Janeway is the most like Kirk. And in ways that I never would have realized without watching the original series. She's brash, and intellectual, and moody, and doesn't take kindly to threats... and she's solemn and kind and empathetic. All of these traits easily describe Kirk. I enjoy this very much, because I've always enjoyed Janeway very much. She takes a lot of flack from the typical malcontent Trekkies and haters (if you can distinguish between the two!) but the fact that she and Kirk are fallible, and flawed and human is part of what makes them so admirable and endearing.

    The jarring element you mention... yes... most definitely, but I'm 40. I'm not too young to remember some legitimate "old school" television, forged in the cheesiest of the cheesy, so I take all of that with a grain of salt. ;) I've been pleasantly surprised by the chemistry of the cast if underwhelmed by the science-fiction technique of the era. Prime example: "The Corbomite Maneuver"... the huge "reveal" that the alien is a child-like being??? Yeah... not quite so enthralling as it once might have been as a climax/conclusion to the story. More often than not, I find myself checking the time of the episode and thinking "50 minutes!!! REALLY??? And THAT'S how it's ending???!!!" lol I'll live. It's an exercise in historic merit. And Star Trek is certainly worth the effort as a whole, to see where it came from to become what it is to me and so many others. :)

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    1. It's interesting that they may not have included The Cage. Hopefully it's in there somewhere.
      I actually just wrote a post about "Conscience of the King" last night (for a week of scheduled posts soon to be released) so I re-watched the episode yesterday afternoon.

      You know, I know exactly what you mean. It's not the effects that are as jarring (esp with the new stuff and YES doesn't the Enterprise make you want to cry sometimes?) it's the manner of storytelling. Not only is the science fiction less... sciency but what's really shocking is how slow it is. The pacing of older television series and movies always takes some getting used to. Audiences now are just more well-versed in plotting and the way tv shows work, making a lot of older TV feel predictable and slow. And it's not just the way it's scripted. The takes are longer, there are more (and longer) shots of control panels and ships in space and graphics that are now outdated. Scenes themselves are several minutes rather than just a couple. There's just more "air' in there.

      As far as Janeway goes, I completely agree. It's possible that she's my favorite captain. She's Kirk but with fewer options (like calling Starfleet for backup) at her disposal and she'll protect her crew at all cost. Also, she's a badass. I love her. I'm really excited about getting back to Voyager.

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  3. Oh... and also... I liked that The Menagerie was a "clip show". I watched the special features/modified episodes after initially watching the originals and really thought (agreed) it was the first glimpse at the Trek Universe as something "bigger". It just grew somehow with the creativity and foresight it would take to use an un-aired pilot in such a great way.

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  4. I don't know about the BluRays, but in the DVD sets The Cage was included with Season 3.

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