Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

I’ll be honest. I thought the first Black Panther was pretty good. Not great. I definitely didn’t feel like it was groundbreaking, outside of it’s presentation of an Afrofuturist world. That was certainly cool. And Chadwick Boseman was great.

Still, I wanted to see Wakanda Forever. I was fascinated by how they would handle T’Challa’s death, how they would integrate Namor, how they would build on everything else that has gone on in the MCU.

So, I liked this one a little bit less. The effects are certainly better. No CGI metal-plated rhinoceroses in this one, at least. The scope of the finale was bigger than the somewhat lackluster fight on a hill with 50 people that ended the first film. But, unfortunately, without Boseman as an anchor, and with some serious story problems, I found the film, in general, kind of a waste of time.

But what did I like? The film looked great. The performances were all great. A lot of the heavy emotional lifting was done by Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett, and they knocked it out of the park. The way practically the entire film is a tribute to Boseman worked. It could have seemed overblown and maudlin. It didn’t.

Now to what I didn’t like, and what generally pushed me out of the film. First, Namor. This character was too much. A four-hundred-year-old mutant who can fly because he has tiny wings on his ankles? No. This doesn’t pass the smell test. I accept the mutation thing, the “I can kind of breath air” thing. I suppose I could accept the “basically immortal” thing, but the ankle-wings killed it for me.

The other thing about Namor that truly grated was that his entire conflict with Wakanda was over Riri Williams, and how she was a threat to Talokan. Um… Namor, did you think Williams was captaining the ship you attacked? Did you think no one else knew how her machine worked? That no one would be able to follow her work? This is, simply, dumb. The vibranium-scanner device is now a thing that people can have. You’ve got to deal with that. You should be working with Wakanda, as your only natural ally, not against them. The writers should have put the Talokan/Wakanda conflict to rest in the first half of the film, and had them both fend off invaders from the outside. That would have made way more sense.

(This is where I put in my standard disclaimer: I never read the comics, and I don’t care if my suggestions contradict those comics.)

Also, side note about Riri. You’re telling me that the US (and probably other world powers) have known about vibranium for nearly 80 years and the only person to figure out how to scan for it is a student who has to hustle jocks for money? And, incidentally, is also the only person (that we know of) to independently develop an Iron Man style flying suit? Yes, Justin Hammer pulled if off after Rhodey stole one, and Ivan Vanko did the same, using blue prints his father provided. Riri Williams made hers from whole cloth… with essentially no money. Don’t. Buy. It.

But perhaps my biggest annoyance with this film is who they chose to put in the Black Panther suit. Shuri is a technician, a scientist. She has shown no evidence of any military training. The heart-shaped herb doesn’t magically grant you fighting skills, a la The Matrix — “I know kung fu.” It’s a level-up on your stamina, endurance, and strength. Steve and Bucky were already soldiers. As was John Walker. Probably Red Guardian, too. We don’t know about the Flag Smashers, but we have no evidence to contradict that they were already trained. Shuri shot her hand cannons at Killmonger a couple of times, and then again in Endgame. Putting her in the Black Panther role is not the best use of Wakanda’s resources. Okoye, Nakia, M’Baku. Any one of them would have been better. I get that it’s comics-accurate. I get that it’s relevant to the emotional journey of the character. And I get that it set up the best cameo in the film (which I will not spoil). But that’s not enough. And it was easy to fix. Maybe Shuri trained in martial arts during the year since T’Challa’s death. Have her family tell her she’s obsessed. Have the elders annoyed with her for abandoning her scientific research. That would make her discovery of how to synthesize the heart-shaped herb that much more exciting and heroic. And less like a necessary story beat because of the title of the movie.

I don’t know if Boseman’s death threw the production into such a state that they couldn’t clean up the story problems and still hit their date, or if this is exactly the film Coogler wanted to make. I just wish it was better.

Gotham

So, I finally finished watching the Fox TV series Gotham. This is the kind of show that appeals to me. It’s got a big cast of larger than life personalities. It’s got a character as the moral center of the show, but a wide variety of morality levels of the other characters, who are either at cross purposes or involved in mutual self-interested alliances. Basically, it’s Prison Break, but with more comic book operatics.

The trickiest part of the show was that it was a Batman prequel. There are a bunch of characters that have built-in plot armor. You know Jim Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth, Selina Kyle, and, of course, Bruce Wayne can’t die. So, how do you build tension then? You flirt with the lives of non-legacy characters. You challenge the legacy characters sense of self. Etc.

All in all, very enjoyable, and worth the time to finish watching all 100 episodes.

But wait, that can’t be it? No, of course it’s not! Now I have to obsessively over-analyze every iteration of the Batman mythology! After two live action series and more than a dozen movies, there have been a lot of different portrayals of all these characters. Which ones are best? I shall now decide.

(FYI, I’m leaving out any animated versions. We can all agree that Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are amazing and move on. I didn’t keep up with all the CW shenanigans with these characters, so they aren’t included. Also, I haven’t watched Titans, or Pennyworth, or the 2002 Birds of Prey show, so those performances aren’t on my radar. Sorry, Dina Meyer fans.)

Also, consider this a spoiler warning for any and all of these shows or movies.

Lucius Fox

No offense to Chris Chalk (G), but Morgan Freeman (BB, TDK, TDKR) is both a nation treasure and easily the best version of this character.

Batgirl

The less said about Alicia Silverstone’s performance (B&R) the better. Yvonne Craig (B66) wins by default. (Sorry, random baby in Gotham. You’re not in the running.)

Gillian Loeb

Honestly, I didn’t even know this was a comics character. Colin McFarlane’s performance was forgettable (BB, TDK). Peter Scolari (G) gets the win for his overall weaselly nature.

Carmine Falcone

This mafia boss isn’t the most dynamic of characters. John Dorman (G) played him as a kind of world-weary pragmatist. John Turturro’s version (TB) was basically a sleazy opportunist. I’ll give it to Tom Wilkinson (BB) because his version simply seemed menacing.

Ra’s al Ghul

Should Ken Watanabe (BB) count? Probably not. He was a decoy. Still cool, though. No, it’s between Liam Neeson (BB) and Alexander Siddig (G). Siddig’s performance is nicely creepy, but Neeson wins for his sleek, cool performance, and his ability to get the audience to side with him until his true nature is revealed… just like a ninja should!

Scarecrow

Gotham didn’t even have a single actor play the guy, switching between Charlie Tahan and David W. Thompson during the show’s run. Not a memorable performance. No, the nod here goes to the excellent Cillian Murphy (BB, TDK, TDKR) for being awesome, and also the only bad guy to feature in all three Nolan films!

Bane

Hey, remember Bane from Batman & Robin. Don’t you wish you didn’t? Thanks for that, Robert “Jeep” Swenson. Hey, remember Bane from Gotham? Didn’t see it? He was played by Shane West, of all people. Weird. No, the best Bane was Thomas Hardy (TDKR), crazy accent and all. Loved it!

Mr. Freeze

Okay, I’m going to blow your mind. Mr. Freeze was played by three different actors in the 1960s Batman series: George Sanders (who?), Eli Wallach (really?), and Otto Preminger (with the WHAT now?). In that version he’s just kind of a weird, evil guy. Nathan Darrow’s performance (G) is kind of a one-note, “the world deserves this”, pathos character. Now, hold onto your socks. I’m giving the award to Arnold Schwarzenegger (B&R) for his crazy, over-the-top, pun-laden performance. (This will be the last award given to anyone in this film, I suspect.)

Poison Ivy

Look, Uma Thurman (B&R) seemed to be was having fun. More power to her. Let’s move on to Gotham, where the character was initially played by Clare Foley and Maggie Geha before aging up to Peyton List. List doesn’t have too much to do, but she pulls off sultry and menacing well enough to get the win.

Robin

I enjoyed Burt Ward’s performance (B66) as much as the next guy. And, to be fair, Chris O’Donnell (BF, B&R) may have done the best possible with what he was given. But merely the possibility of a Robin played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (TDKR) makes me happy. (Odd choice. I know.)

Penguin

Now we’re getting to the big names. Burgess Meredith (B66), Danny DeVito (BR), Colin Farrell (TB), and Robin Lord Taylor (G). Wait? Who’s that last guy? He’s the best Penguin, that’s who. Never has a character suffered so many reversals of fortune, last minute escapes, or scene-chewing speeches. He was, in a real sense, the star of Gotham for five seasons.

Riddler

“Russell, please tell me you’re not going to pick a guy from Gotham again, are you?” Well, let’s see. Frank Gorshin (B66)? Campy, but meh. Paul Dano (TB)? Creepy, but meh. Jim Carrey (BF)? Definitely not meh, I’ll give him that. But Cory Michael Smith (G) had the smarts, the panache, and the Gollum/Smeagol split personality to make this Riddler new and exciting.

Two-Face

This is a weird one. We have two portrayals of Harvey Dent with no Two-Face change: Billy Dee Williams (B89) and Nicholas D’Agosto (G). Boring! Tommy Lee Jones (BF) turns in not only his worst performance, not only the worst performance in any Batman film, but potentially the worst performance of all time. That leaves Aaron Eckhart (TDK) who wasn’t great, but was way better than his competition.

Jim Gordon

Niel Hamilton (B66) wasn’t really allowed to be interesting, I guess. J. K. Simmons (JL) and Jeffrey Wright (TB) each only have a single film. They’re great, but limited. Pat Hingle (B89, BR, BF, B&R) has the most films under his belt, but he was little more than a filler. That leaves me a real Sophie’s choice: Gary Oldman (BB, TDK, TDKR) or Ben McKenzie (G). Oldman is the better actor. McKenzie got to explore the character much more thoroughly. Comes down to this. I’m giving it to Oldman (by a hair) because of the look on his face when he realizes who Batman is. McKenzie never got to play a moment like that.

Alfred Pennyworth

Wow. There just isn’t a bad performance in this bunch. Alan Napier (B66) was the properest of English butlers, and never seemed unable to cope. Michael Gough (B89, BR, BF, B&R) was one of the best things about the Burton/Schumacher era. Michael Caine (BB, TDK, TDKR) was… Michael Caine. Jeremy Irons (BVS, JL) was a breath of fresh air in the dourest of Batman films. Andy Serkis (TB) is a wonderful calming presence in his first film. But, I guess my order of introduction gives it away. I have to give the award to Sean Pertwee (G) for being the right mix of father figure, guy-in-the-chair, and self-sufficient bad ass.

Catwoman

Lee Meriwether and Eartha Kitt (B66) were both fine. Julie Newmar (B66) was the best of this early bunch. But, we’re moving on. Anne Hathaway (TDKR) made Selina more relatable and a believable romantic foil for Batman. I enjoyed Camren Bicondova’s performance (G), though her shtick seemed to wear thin after five seasons. (And, for some reason, they felt the need to recast her for the series finale with Lili Simmons. That choice did not work.) To me, Zoe Kravitz (TB) took the character a little to much to the light side of the force. And we shall not discuss Halle Berry (C). I’d say the most interesting version was Michelle Pfeiffer (BR). She was sultry and broken and powerful and sympathetic, all at the same time. It’s a shame we only got the one film.

Bruce Wayne

I suppose I could put a slash up there and include Batman, but they’re really different characters, right? So let’s honor that.

David Mazouz (G) played it a little prickly. Adam West (B66) was just “random guy with money”. Actually, that description could apply to Val Kilmer (BF). And George Clooney (B&R). Ben Affleck (BVS, JL) threw in a little bit of a Cassandra complex about how he’s the only one who knows how to save everything. Which was fine, I guess. Robert Pattinson (TB) was just super moody all the time.

So, we’re left with Michael Keaton (B89, BR) and his sort of hapless man-child, or Christian Bale (BB, TDK, TDKR) who was more of a douche-bag trust fund brat. It’s a tough call, but I have to go with Bale on this one. (We’ll see if The Flash changes my mind.)

Batman

This time around, we’re talking about the guy in the cape. Is he menacing? Does all of the ass get kicked?

David Mazouz (G) gets to play him for one scene. At least he’s got it on his resume, I guess. Adam West (B66) is definitely a contender here, just for the rich character portrayal that you don’t usually get nowadays, since the costume is so overwhelming. That’s why we’re going to lose Keaton (B89, BR), Kilmer (BF), and Clooney (B&R) all in one swipe.

So, does Bale (BB, TDK, TDKR) win this one as well? Hold your horses. Affleck does a really nice job in the suit, particularly in Justice League. And his warehouse fight in Batman v. Superman cannot be overlooked. (His cameo in Suicide Squad probably can be overlooked, but why would I do that.) So, Affleck gets it.

And we’re done. Wow, that took a long time.

“Uh, Russell. You forgot someone.”

I told you, I’m not going to talk about the Arrowverse! Sorry.

“No. What about… him.”

Him?

“You know… Him.”

Oh. Yeah.

Joker

Oh, there’s so very much to say about this character, right? I think we’re going to end up with more actors for this character than any other. Let’s do a roll call:

Caesar Romero (B66) — Sorry. If you won’t even shave your mustache, you lose. Next!

Jack Nicholson (B89) — Really? He barely played a character. He was “Jack Nicholson with green hair.”

Heath Ledger (TDK) — This is the performance to beat, right? Mysterious, menacing, darkly hilarious. Everything you want in a Joker.

Jared Leto (SS) — Ugh. Okay, at least he went for it, right? He tried something. I’ll give him that.

Cameron Monaghan (G) — Bonus points for playing two variants of the character (twin brothers). He’s definitely doing some good work, but he’s up against some heavyweights here.

Joaquin Phoenix (J) — I almost forgot about this one. I mean, it did make a billion dollars. And started a franchise. (I guess I should have included Douglas Hodge and Dante Pereira Olson in the above sections, huh? Well, whatever.) But it was a joyless exercise in dissecting the life of a homicidal incel. I can’t say it’s not good acting, but I can say I didn’t enjoy it.

Barry Keoghan (TB) — Technically, he wasn’t credited as “Joker”, but we all know the truth. You can’t have a Batman series start up without a reference to Joker, right? Right??

Why am I wasting your time. It’s got to be Ledger. He’s the benchmark from now on. Good luck, every Joker actor from now on. You’ve got your work cut out for you.

So, how did the various franchises fare?

Batman 66 – 1 win

DCEU – 1 win

Tim Burton – Joel Schumacher – 2 wins (1 each, if you’re counting)

Gotham – 5 wins. That’s a great showing.

Christopher Nolan – 10 wins! It’s a rout! And a clean sweep for its villains, to boot! Well done, Mr. Nolan. You win at Batman.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League

We need to talk about the Snyder Cut. (Well, really, we needed to talk about it a while ago. I forgot to post this review. [sigh])

First of all, I have to admit, I didn’t hate the Whedon Cut of Justice League. It wasn’t great, sure, but there were things to like. What I didn’t ever expect was that the whole #releasethesnydercut thing would gain traction and make a major Hollywood studio course correct on one of their signature IPs. Live and learn, I guess.

Did I watch this four hour opus in one sitting? No.

Did I watch it mostly on my phone? Yes.

Did I then also watch the “Justice is Gray” alternate version that is the same film, just in black and white? Yes.

Why did I do this? I don’t know. I was curious to know if it would work. Actually, it did. I think the Gray version is slightly better.

You see, the main thing that the Snyder Cut has for days is grandeur. Gravitas. It leans into these characters as mythic beings, beyond the realm of mere mortals like us. It leans hard. And the black and white cinematography underlines that even more. And I dug it. Let’s call this the first addition that I liked.

What else did I like that was added (back) in? The Flash is more of an impact on the story, and less of a comedy sidekick. Though, thankfully, many of the laughs remain. That was a bit of a surprise.

I enjoyed the Steppenwolf-as-wayward-child story-line. He wasn’t simply bad-guy-who-wants-planet. He had a pathos to him that, amazingly, came through in the CG performance. And I liked his weird, spiky suit.

I liked the more fully fleshed out (pun intended) Cyborg story, complete with a nice arc for his dad and more time for Joe Morton.

Generally, the action scenes were better. I particularly enjoyed the ancient battle with Darkseid, and the blink-or-you’ll-miss-it cameo by David Thewlis.

And the final battle with Steppenwolf was also better, mostly because Superman was demoted to “guy who punches”, and Cyborg and Flash really were the ones who saved the day. (I won’t spoil what Flash does, but it is very cool.)

Now, what did I dislike that was new? Honestly, four hours was not necessary. A prudent trim would have kept the grandeur and the character building without turning it into a test of bladder control. Can you imagine watching this in a theater? Yikes. Also, the Knightmare at the end was overkill. It was a trailer for a movie that will probably never happen, but, you know, #restorethesnyderverse is a thing now, so what do I know?

Here’s the fun part. What do I miss from the Whedon Cut? The best details that Whedon added to the story were story fixes.

The first (which is kind of doofy, I’ll admit, but it helps) is the early scene where Batman takes out a parademon. That explains why Bruce is so hot to get the Justice League going right now. A random warning from Lex Luthor would not have been sufficient.

Actually neither version is content to let Wonder Woman’s warning be the inciting incident for Batman building the league, which is a superior choice, and also elevates Wonder Woman’s value in the story, which is limited in both versions, sadly.

The other thing that was better in the original was Batman specifically using Lois Lane as his backup plan if Clark went postal. That was brilliant. In this version, she just happens to be near by. Story by coincidence is rarely good story.

Now, it’s time to be all listy and stuff. How do I rank all the DCEU films?

1. Man of Steel — Somehow they haven’t been able to meet the quality of that first outing.
2. Aquaman — I guess it’s not surprising that I put the most Marvel-like of the films this high.
3. Wonder Woman — Honestly, spots 2 through 5 are all really close. This one has several killer scenes… and then a dumb battle at the end.
4. The Suicide Squad — Is this the most improvement in a sequel ever? It might be.
5. Shazam — I’d rate this one higher if it wasn’t so fricking dark. Still, very fun.
6. Birds of Prey — Remember this one? There are some great sequences and some seriously questionable story logic. But I still liked it.
7. Zack Snyder’s Justice League — If not for that run time, it would be at number 5.
8. Justice League — Yeah, the ZSL is better, but not that much better.
9. Wonder Woman 1984 — It’s really a coin flip whether this is better or worse than Suicide Squad. I give this one the edge because of a much better villain.
10. Suicide Squad — So many good ideas squandered.
11. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice — Ugh.

No Time to Die and the Bond Canon

This will be a very short review, followed by a longer digression into my personal head canon about the Bond universe. (If you’re worried about spoilers, there will be none.)

No Time is Die is pretty good. It’s better than Spectre and Quantum of Solace. It’s not as good as Casino Royale or Skyfall. It cements Daniel Craig as an above-average Bond, with a great overall run of films. (Extra bonus points to Ana de Armas for her short but memorable performance as Paloma, a highly effective agent in her own right.)

The thing that was truly groundbreaking about the Craig films is that they had an internal continuity. Each film cared about the events of the previous film. (Skyfall less so than the others, but still.) There have been points in the Bond film series when references to previous films happened, but they were never baked into the story lines so completely. How many times were we reminded of Vesper (the doomed love interest from Casino Royale) in the following films?

We’re also in a time of cinematic universes. DC and Marvel are pulling in story points and characters from earlier film series to enhance their own. There’s a cheesier, but still interesting history of this in horror. (Anyone else remember Freddy vs. Jason? Aliens vs. Predator?) So, I asked myself, “Could all the Bond films actually be part of the same universe? Could they all be canon?”

I think the answer is yes.

There are really only a handful of ways to explain away the nearly six decade history of these movies about one character. They are as follows:

1. Each film is it’s own thing. References to other films are cute, but can be ignored.
2. Each Bond actor defines his own sub-universe. Each casting change serves as a soft reboot.
3. All the films are in the same universe, and different actors portray different characters who all go by the name of James Bond.

There’s nothing to think about in option 1. Option 2 is often considered the default, but I think an excellent argument can be made for Option 3.

The best argument against Option 2 is the supporting cast that overlaps different Bonds. The recent example is Judy Dench as M for both Brosnan and Craig. That could be overlooked as stunt-casting, but she certainly seems to be the same person. But let’s not forget Bernard Lee who played M from Dr. No through Moonraker, interacting with three different Bonds. Or, of course, Desmond Llewelyn, whose Q provided gadgets to everyone but Craig. “M” and “Q” are clearly code names, so it makes sense to swap out the actors as necessary. There’s even a quick nod to Bernard Lee in No Time to Die. (His portrait is on a wall in the MI-6 headquarters.)

Is it much of a leap to assume that “James Bond” is also a code name? There’s actually some evidence for this. The first is Alec Trevelyan. He was a double-0 agent played by Sean Bean in Goldeneye. It’s revealed that he was a Russian, so we know “Trevelyan” is a fake name. Also, in Skyfall, Silva (played by Javier Bardem) was actually named Tiago Rodrigues. So that’s two instances where we know MI-6 agents go by fake names pretty much full time. It’s not much of a stretch to assume Bond is similar.

This theory also explains a weird problem I’ve always had with For Your Eyes Only. In the opening of that film, we see Roger Moore at the grave of Bond’s dead wife from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. This is a rare continuity moment in the series, implying that Roger Moore and George Lazenby are portraying the same character. But then, Blofeld shows up, and is killed by Bond in a kind of silly manner, with a grin and a pat on the head. This is not reasonable if he’s dealing with the man who killed his wife. (We see Roger Moore brutally kill a man who murdered one of his female conquests later in the film. It’s not played for laughs.) On the other hand, if Roger Moore is serving out justice to the man who killed the wife of one of his colleagues, it makes so much more sense.

But here’s the issue: in Skyfall we hear Kincaide (Albert Finney) call him “James Bond”. And he’s known this Bond since childhood. This implies that James Bond is the birth name of the Daniel Craig character. Doesn’t that imply a hard reboot occurred in Casino Royale, Judi Dench notwithstanding?

No. I’m going to run with this. Daniel Craig’s character was, from birth, James Bond. We also know he grew up in Scotland (the location of the Skyfall manor). We know he had a difficult relationship with his family. We know, from Casino Royale, that he wears his fancy clothes with disdain, even though it’s clear he comes from money. What if his name is James Bond because he was named after his father, another James Bond?

Which James Bond actor was Scottish? Sean Connery. When did he leave the service? After You Only Live Twice, which came out in 1967. Why did he leave? I posit, to start a family. Back home. In Scotland. When did he return to the service? Perhaps causing a rift in his family? In 1971 (Diamonds Are Forever).

When was Daniel Craig born? 1968.

[mic drop]

Sean Connery was named James Bond. He instigated the brand for MI-6. He had so many connections around the globe under that name that they simply handed it off to George Lazenby’s Bond. Lazenby even references it in his single movie. “This never happened to the other fellow.” Lazenby’s Bond loses his wife in the course of the film. So he retires. They have to pull Connery back into action. But he can’t keep his family in suspense, so he quits again. (And subsequently dies with his wife, orphaning Daniel Craig.) Enter Moore. After many years, Moore gets too old. Enter Dalton. After a fairly short career, Dalton goes fricking rogue in License to Kill. Enter Brosnan. There’s no clear in-universe picture of why Brosnan might have left, but it could be age. Enter Craig, who, despite hating his father, ends up following in his footsteps.

I will consider it a huge missed opportunity if we don’t get a scene in the next Bond film that makes this explicitly clear. (Not necessarily the Connery/Craig connection. That would be awesome, but it’s too complex a concept for an after-credit scene.) My dream scenario is a scene between Ralph Fiennes, Timothy Dalton, and Pierce Brosnan, talking about the new guy (whoever is playing him) and maybe reminiscing a bit about the old times.

TI4 – New Strategy Cards

I’m a big fan of the board game Twilight Imperium (4th edition). I don’t get a chance to play it in person too often, but I try to play at least once a week on Tabletop Simulator with a group of my friends. The games take several session to play, but that’s okay. It’s a big game. (Let’s call that the review for this post, if you care about the name of the blog.)

The unofficial official podcast about the game is Space Cats Peace Turtles, which has two gentleman who like to analyze the game pretty deeply, and they recently threw out three ideas that all stuck with me:

1. What if the strategy cards had secondary abilities that were in opposition to the primary abilities, rather than just nerfed versions of them?
2. What if there was exploration in the strategy cards?
3. What if there were 9 strategy cards?

Challenge accepted.

My idea? Reshuffle the abilities (throwing in some exploration) but make each pairing thematic. Warfare remains unchanged, because it fits already. While one faction is preparing an offensive strike, everyone else can build up their forces in response. I want all of the cards to have that flavor. If one faction is leaning hard into something, how might the rest of the galaxy respond?

1 – Organization

Primary – Gain 3 command tokens.

Secondary – Spend 1 token from your strategy pool and place it in any system. You may place either 1 space dock or 1 PDS on a planet you control in that system.

Notes: “Hey, L1Z1X is streamlining their command structure so they can move more aggressively into the galaxy? I better batten down the hatches.”

2 – Convention

Primary – Choose 1 system other than the Mecatol Rex system that contains a planet you control; each other player places a command token from their reinforcements in the chosen system. Then, ready up to 2 exhausted planets you control.

Sec – Spend 1 token from your strategy pool to draw 1 secret objective.

Notes: “Xxcha is hosting a peace conference. We’re going to make back room deals to gain advantage later.”

3 – Election

Primary – Choose a player other than the speaker. That player gains the speaker token. Draw 2 actions cards. Look at the top 2 cards of the agenda deck. Place each card on the top or bottom of the deck in any order.

Secondary – Spend any amount of influence to gain 1 command token for every 3 influence spent.

Notes: “While the Federation of Sol is distracted by taking charge of the assembly, we’ll ready our fleets for expansion.”

4 – Development

Primary – Place 1 PDS or 1 Space Dock on a planet you control. Place 1 PDS on a planet you control

Secondary – Spend 1 token from your strategy pool to replenish your commodities.

Notes: “The Arborec are focused on building structures rather than attacking us. We can relax and focus on our native industries for a minute.”

5 – Taxation

Primary – Gain 3 trade goods. Replenish commodities. Choose any number of other players. Those players may replenish their commodities.

Secondary – Spend 1 token from your strategy pool to ready up to 2 exhausted planets you control.

Notes: “Mentak is treating their people terribly, forcing them to work, and taxing them into oblivion. We look so much better in comparison, our planets just got more productive.”

6 – Warfare

Primary: Remove 1 of your command tokens from the game board; then, gain 1 command token. Redistribute any number of the command tokens on your command sheet.

Sec: Spend 1 token from your strategy pool to use the PRODUCTION ability of 1 of your space docks in your home system.

Notes: “Wait. Mahact are planning to attack us with that force they just built? We need to protect our home now!”

7 – Exploration

Primary – Explore up to 2 planets you control with different traits.

Secondary – Spend 1 token from your strategy pool and 4 resources to research 1 technology.

Notes: “NRA is going hog wild with the exploration of their systems. We have to catch up if we can with technology.”

8 – Investment

Primary – Research 1 technology. Spend 6 resources to research 1 technology.

Secondary – Spend 1 token from your strategy pool to explore 1 planet you control.

Notes: “Not so fast, Jol-Nar. You may have technology, but we have resources at home to exploit, too.”

9 – Pageantry

Primary – Immediately score 1 public objective if you fulfill its requirements. Gain 1 victory point if you control Mecatol Rex; otherwise, draw 1 secret objective.

Secondary – Spend 1 token from your strategy pool to draw 2 action cards.

Notes: “Oh, Winnu. You’re so proud of your place at the center of the galaxy. But we have tricks up our sleeves to unseat you.”

Yes, (Prime) Minister – Complete Series

This is, technically, two separate series, but they function like one with a rebranding mid-way. The show aired from 1980 to 1987, giving us a total of 38 episodes.

In the first series, we follow the career of James Hacker, a parliamentarian who is given a position in government, the wonderfully vague Minister of Administrative Affairs. This is, I’m led to believe, not a real position. But since it is so non-descript, they were able to have the story go in whatever direction they wanted. Hacker is a reasonably good man, but he is also a politician. Also, he has kind of a Churchill complex. He wants to be seen as the “great man” of government. Or, at least, doesn’t want to be seen as a failure.

As a member of cabinet, Hacker inherits the department’s Cabinet Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby. Sir Humphrey is everything Hacker isn’t. He’s a noble (and therefore went to the “right” schools, and knows the “right” people). He doesn’t care one whit about politics or party. He cares about bureaucracy, order, rules, and above all, keeping the real power away from politicians and in the hands of the people who really run the government: civil servants.

The man caught in the middle is Hacker’s Principal Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley. Bernard is an employee of the civil service, and so has a duty to Sir Humphrey. But he’s also a commoner, inspired by Hacker’s desire to do “good”, however that might be framed at any given moment. A throughline of the show is the struggle between these two forces. Bernard never truly becomes “a man of the people” nor a “solid civil servant”. He dabbles in both extremes.

The second series follow Hacker’s rise to the position of Prime Minister. If Sir Humphrey has the upper hand most of the time in the first series, the tables are ever so slightly turned in Hacker’s favor in the second. But the basics of the show remain consistent, if the titles and the sets do not.

While it may feel old fashioned to have a show with so few women of importance, it is, at least for me, a nice change to have a show with almost no romantic component at all. No Sam and Diane banter in this.

These shows are stinging satire of democratic government, sort of the more cynical, comedy flip-side of the earnest portrayal you see in something like The West Wing. All the characters are whip-smart, though not above the occasional gaffe. The end result is some of the talkiest sitcom episodes you’ll ever see. I find joy in watching Hacker and Sir Humphrey joust with language while Bernard throws in the occasional wry comment.

The show has a definite beginning, and the hint of an arc, as Hacker grows in his job(s). But there really wasn’t a series finale, just one last episode. It’s permissible to imagine these two continuing their conflicts over the nature of government forever.

(The show was rebooted with a new cast in 2013, but it appears to have been a pale imitation of the original, so I haven’t sought it out.)

Lost – Complete Series

My first review was of Gilligan’s Island. What better way to continue than to tackle the Twenty-First Century version of the same thing: Lost. Lost ran from 2004 to 2010, with 119 episodes.

“Wait,” you say, “Lost is nothing like Gilligan’s Island, Russell. Pull your head out.”

“No, you wait,” I rejoinder. “I’ll explain.”

The basic setup of both shows is identical. A disparate group of individuals that represent different parts of our society are involved in a disastrous event (this time, a plane crash) that strands them on an island in the Pacific Ocean. Also, there are already a bunch of people on the island. Also, there appears to be some aspect of fate ensuring that they can’t leave. Really, this post is writing itself.

Now, it’s not possible to have one-for-one analogues of the characters. They function more as combinations. So, let’s dig in.

Jack Shepard is a spinal surgeon, so he’s the most educated person on the island (Professor). He’s also got a little bit of an anger problem, but becomes the de facto leader (Skipper). He’s got daddy issues.

Kate Austen is a fugitive from justice. She doesn’t really have much of a parallel from Gilligan. She’s got daddy issues.

John Locke is a nerd who believes he’s destined for greatness, used to be paralyzed, but now isn’t. He vies for control with Jack, and believes in otherworldly things (Skipper). He’s got daddy issues.

Sayid Jarrah is an Iraqi soldier with encylcopedic knowledge of things that make it possible for these people to survive (Professor). He’s got daddy issues.

Hurley Reyes is a pleasant, helpful every-man (Gilligan) who secretly owns many millions of dollars (Howell). He’s got daddy issues.

Claire Littleton is a nice, pretty, uncomplicated girl (Maryann). She’s also about to give birth. She’s got daddy issues.

Sawyer is a ruthless con man who believes in the law of the jungle (Howell). He’s got daddy issues.

Sun Kwon is a loyal wife to her businessman husband (Lovey). But she has a secret! She’s got daddy issues.

Jin Kwon is Sun’s husband. There’s really no Gilligan analogue. He has daddy-in-law issues.

Michael Dawson is a contractor who just took guardianship of his son, who he hardly knows. He has issues as a daddy.

Walt Lloyd is Michael’s son, and doesn’t much respect him. He has daddy issues.

Shannon Rutherford is a dilettante who is mostly concerned with her physical appearance (Ginger). Her issue is with the fact that her daddy died, and that meant her step brother is impinging on her life.

Boone Carlyle is that step brother. And that’s all I have to say about that.

And, finally, Merry Brandybuck… I mean, Charlie Pace is a drummer from a rock band who is mostly focused on his celebrity (Ginger). He is the only character here with no kind of daddy issues. That might be why he’s my favorite character from Season 1.

Whew. That was a lot of characters. Maybe I shouldn’t have made a review of each character part of these posts. But I’m sticking to my guns!

First of all, the pilot. It’s astounding. It juggles all of these characters quite well. It lends their plight on the island an air of crazy mystery. It hooked me immediately. I needed to know what killed the pilot, why there was a polar bear on the island, who was the French woman repeating a message on the radio for over a decade. (FYI, don’t believe the haters. All of these questions, and more, were answered through the series run.)

Long story short, the show was about the fate of this mysterious island, and how these people were tied to that. I won’t try to summarize the series, because I’ll either fail to do it justice, or bore you to tears. As the show progressed, the main cast went through a bunch of changes. I’ll summarize quickly.

Boone died tragically. Shannon died accidentally. Charlie died heroically, as did Sayid, even Michael, kind of. Locke was murdered. Sun and Jin died together for love.

The following characters were added, didn’t add a ton to the show, and were killed: Mr. Eko, Ana Lucia, Libby, Nikki, Paulo, Charlotte, Daniel, Ilana. This isn’t to say I disliked all of these characters. I simply didn’t enjoy them enough to write up who they were and what they did.

Newer characters I did care about were…

Desmond Hume, a Scottish veteran who landed on the island and became pivotal to the plot because of his love for a woman with a terrifying father. (Daddy issues!)

Ben Linus, a sociopath who leads a society that already exists on the island. (He’s the one who murders Locke. And also his father!) His redemption arc may be the most emotionally satisfying part of the show.

Juliet Burke, a doctor brought to the island by Ben for unimportant reasons, who sides with the castaways against the “Others”. She helps to humanize Sawyer. I don’t believe her father was ever even mentioned. Imagine!

Miles Straume, a psychic with a penchant for one-liners who is always a little non-plussed by what’s going on. His arc isn’t important. I just really liked the performance.

Frank Lupidus, a pilot who brings a batch of new people to the island at the end of Season 3. I liked this guy because he had no secret past, no supernatural powers, no tortured soul. He was hands down the most normal guy in the show, and he responded to the stuff happening the way real people would. He was a rock, which was probably why they couldn’t have him in the show much. But when he was there, I loved it.

Richard Alpert, a guy from the 1800s who was granted temporary immortality by Jacob, the founder of the Others. His path was… Okay, you don’t care. He was important, and the character was genuinely good, if flawed. And the performance was great.

I think that covers it. All the entrances and exits of central characters. So, I suspect, to a casual reader this show sounds like an enormous mess. It was messy, but, to me, messy in the best of ways. And by the time they got to the the series finale, they stuck the landing. They addressed the internal psychological stuff, they addressed the interpersonal stuff, and they addressed the wack-a-doo sci-fi-fantasy stuff.

Also, I don’t know for sure, but I think this was the first show to have flashbacks baked into the structure of every episode. That is so commonplace now, it’s almost a cliche. But in 2004, it was innovative.

I can understand if someone watched the show on occasion they they would hate it. It rewards a constant, attentive viewer. That was me. I was a constant, attentive viewer. And I was rewarded.

Gilligan’s Island – Complete Series

I was thinking about how many TV shows I’ve gone to the trouble of watching in their entirety. And it turns out to be quite a few. I’m going to try this out and see if I get some decent posts out of it. But what does a series review even mean? I choose to look at the pilot, the main (i.e. names in the opening credits) characters, how those rosters change over time, and finish up with a look at the series finale.

Gilligan’s Island was composed of 98 episodes from 1964 to 1967. (99 if you include a failed pilot with a slightly different cast.) Think about that. More than thirty episodes a year! They definitely don’t make them like that anymore. The show was about as high concept as you can get. Seven folks from different walks of life are stranded on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean after a storm throws the boat way off course. Hijinks ensue. (They were all white and straight, of course. This was the 1960s, after all.) But who are these castaways?

Gilligan is our every-man, a first mate on a tour boat. He’s sweet and naive, and also kind of dumb. He’s our proxy for the youth culture. (Deadly sin: Sloth)

The Skipper (aka Jonas Grumby) is the captain of the boat. He’s got a temper, but his abuse of Gilligan is limited to smacking him on the head with his captain’s hat. Skipper represents the working class, including veterans. (Deadly sin: Wrath)

Thurston Howell III is an insanely wealthy industrialist who never quite realizes that his off-island wealth really has no meaning on the island. He represents the class of power brokers. (He’s also the first indication I’ve noticed in TV of the occasional trope of a Harvard graduate being a little too proud of their alma mater.) (Deadly sin: Greed)

Lovey Howell is Thurston’s mildly ditzy wife. She is a stand in for society culture, often complaining about things that just “aren’t done”. (Deadly sin: Gluttony)

Ginger Grant is our resident siren, a Hollywood starlet still wearing an evening gown. She’s our representation of the entertainment industry: pretty, but largely hollow. (Deadly sin: Lust)

The Professor (Roy Hinkley) is a no-nonsense teacher with encyclopedic knowledge on enough topics to make it plausible that these people could survive. He represents academia. (Deadly sin: Pride)

Finally, Maryann Summers is the wholesome, baked apple pie, girl-next-door stand-in for middle America. (Deadly sin: Envy)

As the series progressed, no one left the island, and no one arrived (except episode by episode). There was also precious little character growth. Thurston’s avaricious edge was sanded down slowly. Professor slowly developed a sense of humor. But that’s about it. Week in and week out, there were adventures, interpersonal drama, and very occasionally the tiniest bit of romance. The lack of any sexual chemistry between anyone is, perhaps, the most dated thing about the show to modern eyes.

What does work is the comedic delivery, the combination of sly word play and slapstick, the extraordinarily light touch that a show from the mid 60s could get away with when talking about matters of life and death. I wouldn’t dwell too much on how it portrayed native peoples (who were usually headhunters) or that Japanese soldier who thought WWII was still going on. Or even how the women on the island have dramatically less agency than the men. These are products of the times, not of the show.

How did the show end? It kind of didn’t. The last episode was the one where Gilligan pretends to be a woman to appease a king from another island who wants a “white goddess”. It’s not a memorable episode, except for the fact that I probably yell out “four!” in a falsetto every six months or so. Don’t know why that stuck in my brain for decades.

There were TV movies after the fact that rescued the castaways, then stranded them again, then had them create a resort on the island. They are mostly bad. In retrospect, I prefer to remember the show as a show. And I did enjoy it, though I have to assume the fact that I watched it as a kid is a big part of it. Nostalgia, y’all.

Mission: Impossible — Series Discussion

I have a fascination with long-running film series. Whether it’s time traveling cyborgs rewriting history or a New York cop having ever more complex and unlikely run-ins with bad guys, the threads that run through these series I find very interesting.

I’ve looked at feminism in the MI series before, but I rewatched a few of them recently, and the common elements in each are worth a look. This will also serve as something of a prediction of how the next (seventh!) MI film will look when it finally hits theaters.

So, what are the common elements in these movies?

Former Government Operative is the Bad Guy

MI1 — Yup. Jim Phelps (Jon Voight), the hero agent from the 1960s TV show, has gone to the dark side. For him, it’s about money.

MI2 — Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) is presented as a sort of dark doppelganger of Ethan Hunt. Ethan is really not too surprised when it turns out he’s gone evil. “He doesn’t think he’s done his job unless he leaves a lot of hats on the ground.” It’s also about money for this guy.

MI3 — This one’s a bit of a cheat. The real bad guy is Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), but he’s helped along the way by John Musgrave (Billy Crudup), who works in the IMF. Musgrave has a warped sense of patriotism.

MIGP — I think this one counts. “Cobalt” is the code name for Kurt Hendricks (Michael Nyqvist), a former analyst in the Russian government who’s all hot for nuclear war.

MIRN — Another dark mirror of Ethan, Solomon Lane (Sean Harris) is a British spy who might be smarter than Ethan, much to Ethan’s chagrin. Lane just wants to burn it all to the ground.

MIF — CIA agent August Walker (Henry Cavill) is not really very similar to Ethan. He’s more of a blunt instrument. He’s an apostle of Lane, so, burn it all to the ground, again.

Prediction for MI7 — Esai Morales is the bad guy. I assume he used to be a secret agent, too. Not sure what his motivation is. We’ve had two guys who are greedy, two guys who want peace at unthinkable cost, and two guys who want chaos. Let’s give this guy a new motivation. Something personal. Ethan destroyed his life and he just wants revenge.

One character returns that made their first appearance in the previous film

MI1 — I guess Jim Phelps?

MI2 — Luther Stickel (Ving Rhames)

MI3 — Wait. No one? Did we not want to see Billy Baird (John Polson) again?

MIGP — Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg)

MIRN — William Brandt (Jeremy Renner)

MIF — Ilsa Faust (Rebecca Ferguson)

MI7 — Wait. Two? We get White Widow (Vanessa Kirby) and Erika Sloane (Angela Bassett)? What is this, the Fast and Furious series?

Prediction for MI8 — I’m guessing Hayley Atwell will be back for the next one.

Agency superior that can’t control ethan

MI1 — Eugene Kittridge (Henry Czerny): The fact that he has had to wait until film 7 to return is unforgivable. I loved this guy.

MI2 — Swanbeck (Anthony Hopkins): I think he might be the only one who doesn’t ever question Ethan’s loyalty.

MI3 — Theodore Brassel (Laurence Fishburne): Is it possible that he seems both the most competent and the most easily frustrated of all the ones in this category?

MIGP — IMF Secretary (Tom Wilkinson): Our first time meeting with the oft-mentioned “Secretary”.

MIRN — Alan Hunley (Alec Baldwin): After the shuttering of the IMF, the Director of the CIA is the one who Ethan has to evade.

MIF — After Hunley is made the new Secretary of the IMF, and is subsequently killed, Erika Sloane is Ethan’s new, questioning authority figure.

Prediction for MI7 — Maybe with the return of Kittridge, we come full circle? Maybe Cary Elwes is a new guy in British Intelligence? Nah. My money is on Shea Whigham as the new superior that Ethan has to convince of his loyalty.

Being all Flirty-Flirt

MI1 — Ethan flirts hard with both Claire Phelps, the bad guy’s wife (Emmanuelle Beart) and Max, an arms dealer (Vanessa Redgrave).

MI2 — This one is flirting that segues into total romantic subplot: Nyah Nordoff-Hall, a thief with a connection to the bad guy (Thandiwe Newton).

MI3 — Dang, this time he flirts his way into marriage, with nurse Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan).

MIGP — The chasest of the flirtations is Ethan’s interactions with Jane Carter (Paula Patton) who is a fellow agent. It’s limited to some appreciative looks and one calculated kiss.

MIRN — You can tell Ethan is taken with Ilsa right away, but it doesn’t amount to much when you realize he’s still pining for his wife from two movies ago.

MIF — Ilsa returns! Julia returns! Wow! But the new flirtation is with the White Widow, which could be considered a little creepy, since she’s Max’s daughter.

Prediction for MI7 — There will be some sort of sparks between Ethan and Hayley Atwell. (I really hope she turns out to be a bad guy.)

Failed Mission

Each film has a mission that Ethan and his team fail. Most often, this failure leads to his superiors developing a loss of confidence in him.

MI1 — The mission at the embassy, where Ethan plays an old senator and he tries to get info on a traitor who’s stealing the NOC list, ends in the deaths of several team members, with Ethan left holding the bag as a suspected mole.

MI2 — The infiltration of the lab where belerophon/chimera was developed ends with the virus not destroyed, but injected into Ethan’s girlfriend, and the girlfriend in the hands of the bad guy.

MI3 — Ethan’s attempt to rescue new agent Ferris ends with her death, and suspicion that Ethan was hiding some sort of involvement with the bad guy.

MIGP — This is a biggie. Ethan and his team try to get some info on a nuclear extremist from inside the Kremlin. This ends with the bad guy free, the Kremlin in ruins, and the US and Russia nearly at war. The President shuts down the entire IMF!

MIRN — In what might be the best action sequence of the series, Ethan and Benji go to the opera in Vienna, fail to catch the bad guy, and worse, fail to stop the assassination of the Chancellor of Austria. Ethan and Benji are now terrorists in the eyes of the government.

MIF — This one happens right off the bat. Ethan chooses to risk the mission (retrieving stolen plutonium) to save Luther. The government never actually decides Ethan has gone rogue, but they are very wary of trusting him for the rest of the film.

Prediction for MI7 — Here’s a bold suggestion: I think it’s time to kill of Luther. It’ll light a bigger fire under Ethan throughout the film, maybe making him take questionable (well, more questionable) risks.

Ethan takes an enormous risk giving something important to a bad guy

MI1 — Ethan steals the NOC list (a list of agents and their identities) from Langley and gives it to Max in order to flush out the mole.

MI2 — When Nyah injects herself with chimera, Ethan doesn’t kill her, letting Ambrose have her.

MI3 — Ethan steals the Rabbit’s Foot and gives it to Davian.

MIGP — Ethan let’s Hendricks get the nuclear launch codes as a gambit to catch and stop him.

MIRN — Ethan memorizes the account numbers and passwords for billions of dollars and gives himself to Lane in exchange for Benji.

MIF — We have a two-fer here. In the opening scene, Ethan let’s the Apostles have plutonium to save Luther. Then he sets Lane free in a bid to retrieve the plutonium, losing both in the process.

Prediction for MI7 — They’ve done the nuclear thing twice, the biological weapon thing twice, agent identities and money. Not sure what the McGuffin will be this time. I vote for some kind of device that will give terrorists access to the US military network.

Star Trek: Picard

I finally watched the first season of this series, and I’ve got to say, it might be one of my favorites of the Trek universe right now. Admittedly, there are only 10 episodes to date, so it doesn’t have the epic scale of any of the 7-year run series. It doesn’t have the sheer weirdness of Voyager, or the gee-whiz exploration fun of Enterprise. And it would take a while to meet the volume of excellence that was TNG. On the other hand, they leaned into the nostalgia.

It felt organic, don’t get me wrong. But it was also clearly designed for super-fans (like me) to really enjoy. Jeri Ryan reprising her Seven of Nine character was a welcome addition. There were innumerable references to specific TNG episodes, as well as the TNG movies. But I think the thing I liked most was the fact that the events of the 2009 Star Trek reboot movie are also included. Obviously nothing that happened with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto is referenced, but the future stuff that sent Spock into the past is. That’s all there, along with (no surprise) how Picard reacted to the emergency as well. I’m sick and tired of IP’s picking and choosing what’s canon and what’s not, as they feel. I appreciate the attention to detail, and the inclusion of everything, including a ton of stuff from Nemesis, a film I really enjoyed.

Side note about time travel: While there’s nothing that specifically alerts us that Picard isn’t in the alternate Kelvin-timeline, I think it’s supremely unlikely that everything that happened in TNG, Voyager and the movies which is referenced wouldn’t be different enough to notice after such dramatic changes. So, I think we have some very specific and interesting information about how time travel works in Star Trek. If you travel into the past, you can create an alternate timeline, though you don’t have to, as Voyage Home and First Contact imply.

But, wait, you say. What about Yesterday’s Enterprise? That changed the present, when the Enterprise-B went back in time, didn’t it? It did, I reply, however there was a time distortion in progress. The rules could be very different in that case. The original timeline was still “in the buffer”, waiting to be resurrected, or waiting to go on its merry way as an alternate timeline.

Back to the review… The main thing this show does have are some excellent performances from a really wild selection of characters. Let’s run down the principals in order of how much I like them:

Narissa — Peyton List turns in a pretty generic Star Trek villain performance. She believes she’s on the side of the angels, but is content with doing evil for a “good” purpose. She has an English accent. She gets killed at the end. Meh.

Soji (et. al.) — Isa Briones is fine as the central “McGuffin” character, the synthetic life-form around which the show revolves. I don’t have a problem with her performance, which I think says more about everyone else listed below bringing their A-game. She gets points for playing multiple characters, but she’s overall kind of bland.

Narek — Harry Treadaway has a little bit of fun with his spy character. Might be the most seductive Romulan we’ve ever seen.

Raffi — It’s fun to watch another former Starfleet officer (played by Michelle Hurd) who has a sort of mentor relationship with Picard. She’s less formal with him, for sure, but the respect is still there. I like the idea of Picard having more adventures after the end of his time with Riker and the others.

Seven of Nine — Jeri Ryan is pretty awesome. She’s presenting as pretty much fully human here. No more awkwardness or skin-tight outfits. But she’s still haunted by her Borg past, and she’s a bad ass. (And how fun was watching her become a mini-Queen for that one scene?)

Elnor — Evan Evagora plays this Romulan monk (?) warrior like if Legolas was just a teenager. Sounds terrible when I write it down, but it works really well.

Rios (et. al.) — Santiago Cabrera would be further down in my ranking if he was just playing the captain of the ship. That performance is great, sort of if Han Solo used to be in Starfleet. But he also plays all the Emergency Holograms (nice nod to Voyager) on the ship. The scene with all five of them is great.

Picard — Wait, you say. How is Patrick Stewart not at the top of your list? Well, he’s awesome, of course. The only quibble I have is how he seemed to be channeling a little bit of Charles Xavier in the performance. His single-minded devotion to saving the “soul” of Soji wasn’t exactly out of character, but it felt like he was talking to Wolverine sometimes. Still, amazing.

Agnes — For my money, Alison Pill is the MVP of this show, I think. She has to juggle quite a few contradictory and overwhelming emotions. She doesn’t ever get to swing a sword or pilot a ship, but she’s always thinking, and we can see it happening, right there on her face. I wouldn’t have expected this reaction after watching episode 1, but my opinion steadily improved all the way to the finale.

So, there you have it. I really do hope that Season Two doesn’t feel like a retread, or a cash grab. I want it to feel as important and as vital as this one. They did such a marvelous job of extending the world building in ways that made perfect sense given everything that had gone before. Now, I want to see that same level of craft applied to other aspects of the Star Trek lore. Here’s a list of what I want:

1. At least two more TNG cameos.
2. At least one DS9 cameo. (And having Dax appear with a new host is cheating, BTW.)
3. Klingons.
4. At least one more reference to Enterprise. (The mention of the Xindi was somewhat oblique, but still welcome.)