Star Trek: Discovery - "Vaulting Ambition" - Season 1 Episode 12 Review

January 22, 2018

By Jarman Day-Bohn

With this episode and the last, we now have two major reveals exposed: Ash Tyler is somehow Voq, and Captain Lorca is actually from the mirror universe. If you are like me, you may have already had those reveals spoiled for you in the form of fan theories from various Star Trek forums and podcasts. If you don’t over-expose yourself to those, then you might have been very surprised by these twists and turns.

Even though I already guessed these surprises, I still found them very satisfying due to the extremely tight writing, but even more because of the excellent performances. Jason Isaacs is a solid veteran performer, and both Sonequa Martin-Green and Shazad Latif as Michael Burnham and Ash Tyler/Voq respectively continue to surprise me. Martin-Green really has come into her own as an actress this season, and since she really has to be the audience surrogate for all these surprises, it’s a tough job to constantly give us satisfying performances of the depth of these reveals. And Latif really makes me feel the transition between tortured Tyler into a truly frightening Voq.

Each and every character has been developed more and more over this season so far, with the exception of Keyla Detmer (played by Emily Coutts, the officer with the damaged face from the battle of the binary stars, with the cool half fade haircut), but they keep giving her more and more screen time, hinting that she will be more important and prominent later on in the series. I am saddened that Stamets has spent so long in a state of coma/insanity, because I miss his firey personality in relation to the other characters. And of course, along with that, we have the loss of Culber, who does actually return in this episode in the form of a vision in Stamets’ clouded brain. I am hoping, along with so many other fans out there, that Culber still returns to the show in some capacity, whether it be through some weird time travel loophole or via his Mirror Universe counterpart. If they can pull it off organically somehow that the Mirror Universe Culber permanently joins the Prime Universe Discovery crew and once again falls in love with Stamets, I will be a very happy man, but I know this would be difficult to happen without feeling forced.

Speaking of loopholes, I am wondering how they plan to retcon many inconsistencies already taking place in the timeline of this show with the rest of Star Trek canon. Included in this is 1) There is no mention or repercussions of Starfleet ever having a spore drive in shows that take place after this one, and 2) Starfleet seems to be completely unaware of the Mirror Universe when it “first” shows up in the original series, which takes place after this. So…either some weird time travel stuff goes down to where none of this ever happened, or they get back to the Prime Universe and Starfleet keep all these activities and the spore drive completely under wraps in such a top secret fashion that Kirk and his crew would not be told of it even when they report their Mirror Universe activities back to Starfleet Command. I really do hope they come up with some explanation for all this, otherwise that would feel just a bit lazy to me, and a bit of a cheat to true fans out there. I really would only take one line of explanatory dialog to retcon it and I’d be happy with it.

I should also mention the reveal of Captain Georgiou being the Emperor in the mirror universe. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I really didn’t care that much about that reveal. I know that story-wise that makes this more complicated between her and Michael Burnham because of their close relationship in the Prime Universe, but I really just am not riveted by Michelle Yeoh’s acting, and I just don’t buy her as this all powerful Emperor. For some reason, I think I would have enjoyed it more if Admiral Cornwell was the Emperor instead. But, c'est la vie.

So! Where is the Prime Universe Lorca? Dead? And I’m confused…so Ash Tyler was a real guy? Does that mean that Voq’s actual body is gone? But they said they reduced his bones…so did they get rid of the original Ash and just overlay his memories and take his face…off? What is the ISS Discovery up to in the Prime Universe if they did indeed switch places? What is Mirror Universe’s Lorca’s grand plan? Hopefully we find out the answers to this and more on next week’s Star Trek: Discovery! Let me know what you thought of the episode in the comments below!

Jarman is a proud Trekkie and Tolkienite, but really just goes crazy over anything sci-fi, fantasy or horror. He is also the co-host, editor and producer of the main A Play On Nerds podcast. Jarman spends his non-geek-media-consumption hours performing voice overs for various projects, which you can find at JarmanActor.com - See his random musings on his Twitter feed @HistrionicSpock

Supernatural - "Wayward Sisters" - Season 13 Episode 10 Review

January 19, 2018

By Kaylynn Kasandra

It’s quite hard to ignore that this episode was used to set the foundation for the spin off from the series. I’m not sure how much you may have heard of it, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t watch. I wasn’t too sold on the idea of Jodie and her group of ladies getting their own spin off. But, they sold me after this episode and I can see why they played it this way. I could complain once more about how this episode was lacking a cameo from my favorite, Cas. But, I am sure nobody wants to hear that yet again. But, honestly, I never thought I would say I would complain over not seeing Sam and Dean throughout the majority of the episode.

Like I mentioned previously, my suspicion is that they did that to set up the spin off. That being said, it isn’t any less irritating. I am used to the episodes derailing from the season’s big storyline to go back to cases. So, that part really doesn’t bother me. The more I think about it, the more annoyed I am. I just don’t think it’s right for a show to take such a departure with its usual starring characters. It almost felt as though I was watching this new spin off instead of Supernatural. So much so that for the first 10 minutes I really thought for a second I was confused and that was the case.

Again, don’t get me wrong, I’m for the spin-off. I’m just not for this marketing incognito. I think the spin-off could stand well enough alone that they really didn’t need to make the winter premiere all about them. Donna is a hilarious character, so seeing her back is nice. I am still not 100% sold on Patience yet if I am honest. Let’s hope that changes. I like Jodi, so it’s always nice to see her come back. Claire is like a female Dean with a hint of Sam, so she’s cool in my book. But Alex, eh, we will see. If that’s the ensemble planned, they’ll be great.

I did let myself be tricked into thinking that Kaia may actually be an asset to this all female team. Unfortunately, as we all saw, that didn’t quite happen. The mystery inter-dimensional elfish looking sword lady killed her. But she is her? This is going to make for a very interesting plot twist that I absolutely can’t wait to see unfold. And something I feel will be the start to the spin-off as well. Which makes it seem its forcing us all into watching.

I honestly wish I had way more to say about this episode. I was so excited for it. It seemed to have to so much potential for awesomeness. I was hoping to at least see a dinosaur and got king kong and a dreamwalkers doppelganger instead. Here’s hoping next week feels more like the Supernatural we all know. I’m all for cameos and crossovers, but not when it feels it’s the stars of the show doing them.

Written by Kaylynn Kasandra. Awkward hippie who enjoys helping people, creating things, reading, sci-fi, fantasy, and Thor. Find more from her at http://www.youtube.com/c/tiedyesmurf

The X-Files - "Plus One" - Season 11 Episode 3

January 18, 2018

By Kaylynn Kasandra

Of all the episodes since X-files made its return, this has to be my favorite. Surprising since it lead us nowhere in terms of the big plot. It did however give me that feeling of nostalgia that we so often crave from the shows we know and grew up watching. X-files for me has always had a soft spot in my heart. It was a show I always watched with grandma, and this episode had the same feel of those episodes. Even though they ignored the big storyline, I wasn’t upset by it at all. We get to remember what it’s like to follow Mulder and Scully on their cases. And this one was quite… interesting.

I really liked the idea behind the case. Psychic twins who can create killer doppelgangers of their enemies from a child’s game. Can’t say that is all too common. And it was done in quite the tongue in cheek manner. I liked that they had the same actress play the twin brother as well. It added a level of humor. But, it also added to the feeling of the paranoia one must feel when seeing visions of themselves. I for one think it would absolutely terrifying to suddenly be plagued by visions of myself. To me that just seems so much more unnerving than any other supernatural being you may see. Unless of course you were born with an identical twin. Which, in that case, you’re probably used to that feeling. Just not the murderous part, or at least I would hope not.

I also think it was nice to see the connection between Mulder and Scully again. Many fans are probably really upset by the idea that William isn’t actually Mulder’s son. So to have the idea proposed that Scully may once again want a child, that’s a big win. At least for me. I can only see it being negative in a few areas if I were to be completely honest. One being if Scully were to be pregnant it would make her more vulnerable. Another playing of that, she would leave the baby vulnerable to being messed with by the smoking man. Which, could in fact actually be playing into his hands all along.

I do have to say, in terms of this case, Fox and Dana got really lucky. Seeing how the twins played their deadly game of hangman using their last names, they were given some extra time to figure things out. Even better, the twins allowed for their childlike bickering to take over and ended the deadly game with each other’s names. Thus again working out nice for Fox and Dana.

I’m curious to see how the timeline will play out throughout the season. I mean, if Scully does indeed end up pregnant, will they stretch that out or speed it up? Also, are we going to be given little pebbles slowly through the season in regards to William? Or are we not going to see him again this season? I just have a feeling we will be having a few more case episodes before we get anymore developments in those regards. I’m just happy they brought the show back and it’s not cheesy. It’s been done very well in my opinion and I hope they keep doing it. I’m really excited to see where this season will lead.

Written by Kaylynn Kasandra. Awkward hippie who enjoys helping people, creating things, reading, sci-fi, fantasy, and Thor. Find more from her at kaylynnkasandra.com and
http://www.youtube.com/c/tiedyesmurf