Am I the only one who found this episode confusing and disappointing?
Maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance because it was part two of "Through the Lens of Time," a mid-season episode I disliked. I wanted that episode to go away and never be seen again. Oh, well.
The Vezda, which I can't help but think of as the First Evil from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, rebuilt Dana Gamble's body and escaped from the medical transporter, because that's possible, I guess. It then traveled by ley lines in space to a faraway planet, because that's possible, I guess. Roger Korby, the source of all trouble, just found that the sky temples in the city of Skygowan on that very planet had the same name as something the Vezda said. The people of Skygowan were eager to gouge out their own eyes and become demonically possessed by the Vezda. Who would do that?
Just explaining this plot was almost physically painful, and I'm sure I did a terrible job of it. I also didn't understand why there was Swahili text on the temple door because M'Benga is supposed to be there, because it was all about duality. As in the Vezda and... Captain Marie Batel.
I get what they were going for. Just as Dana Gamble became possessed by the Vezda, Marie Batel became the vessel for its opposite, the Beholder, a big glowy statue that is the sentry of eternal bridges. Batel's sacrifice of the life she was living in order to stand guard against evil for eternity was supposed to evoke sympathy and admiration, like Lazarus in "The Alternative Factor," or more recently, the end of Loki.
(The thought of Batel standing guard for millennia with nothing to do was truly awful. At least leave her a library computer or something. I kept thinking of a Buffy quote: "Would there be cable?")
To give it even more emotional umph, Batel had enough control over her transformation to give herself and Captain Pike a glimpse of the life they should have had together. There were five scenes in Pike's house on Earth, each ending with a knock on the front door:
1. Their second wedding anniversary, where they talked about taking each other's names, and adopted a puppy, who stole Pike's chef apron;
2. Where they had a young daughter and the puppy was a grown dog, and Pike was about to leave, fulfill his horrible destiny and have that accident. Batel was prepared to care for Pike when he returned;
3. Batel answered the door and it was Pike, who wasn't injured after all... because Batel opened up the fabric of time or something. They don't know what's next now;
4. Thanksgiving, and Juliet brought home her fiance Elijah, Robert April's son. This time Pike heard the knock on the door, but Batel did not;
5. Batel was elderly and dying, and Pike was by her bedside. She said she'll always be with him and would be waiting for him, and that this lifetime was a gift that she needed to make the sacrifice. The Vezda at the door released the demons and Batel's transformation occurred.
This sequence should have made me cry, or at least touched me. It didn't. I liked it, it was beautifully done, well acted, and a highlight of the episode, but I guess I was never invested in the Pike/Batel romance, anyway. Were they intimating that Pike can escape his future? That this changed things?
For me, the absolute highlight of the episode, and I bet you know what I'm going to say, was the Kirk/Spock mind meld. I loved how Paul Wesley and Ethan Peck played those scenes with understated humor and a connection signaling the beginning of their lifelong friendship, which was one of the best things about the original series. Kirk/Spock slash was the origin of fan slash, and the way the two of them played up the sexual innuendo was, frankly, adorable. I laughed through it twice.
The closing scenes were fine. Kirk and Spock playing 3D chess, and Kirk and his brother Sam having a drink together. Pike and Una sharing a moment where the chef's apron was tossed aside. Does that mean Pike will no longer cook for his crew? Scotty talking with Pelia, and how I love those two together. Spock and La'an and their odd little romance. With Skygowan recovering from all of the eye gouging and possession, Korby stayed to study and gave Chapel star maps that he found there, enough for another five year mission.
Not a bad ending. But in my opinion, much of this season has felt like a dropped ball. It was like they simply see-sawed between humor and horror. Star Trek is science fiction. Good science fiction, at times even great science fiction. Where is my science fiction?
Bits:
— Stardate 3165.2, Pike's log. The planet where Skygowan was (what was its name? Badass?), and the dimension where the Vezda and Batel ended up.
— Pike threw Batel a farewell party for her new JAG job, although it ended up as a completely different farewell. Scotty got pranked and arrived in full formal dress.
— I hadn't realized, but I learned this week that Martin Quinn is the first actual Scottish person to play Scotty. Yay for representation.
— The containment orbs weren't the answer this time, and again, I was thinking about the Orbs of Thesselah on Buffy. I love Buffy. I love Star Trek. Buffy is not Star Trek.
— La'an has mastered the Vulcan nerve pinch.
— We never saw the captain of the Farragut. But then again, there was a lot going on in this episode. It made sense to give her lines to Jim Kirk.
— The costumes in "Through the Lens of Time" were terrific. They got to save money and trot them out again for Skygowan. How thrifty.
Quotes:
Erica: "He actually jumped back into test pilot drills. Voluntarily."
La'an: "I heard him mutter something about yoga the other day?"
Pike: "Okay, all right, laugh all you want, but yoga will take down the best of men."
Pelia: "Remind me to tell you about the time I spent with a time-tra... traveling doctor I once knew."
Apparently, I missed seeing the TARDIS in her quarters earlier this season.
Spock: "What do you know of the Vulcan mind meld?"
Kirk: "Frankly, about as much as I want to. I'm not big on intimacy without someone knowing every single one of my thoughts."
Kirk: "Well. I see why you brought me to a bar. This is one hell of a date."
Spock: "Indeed."
Kirk: "Okay, Mr. Spock. But be gentle. Oh, wait, wait wait. That one time on Orion's second moon? Just try not to judge, okay?"
Spock: "I will do my best, Commander."
Kirk: "Maybe call me Jim."
Spock: "Yes, Jim."
I hate writing negative reviews. Season four is already in the can. I truly hope it's going to be better than this one. One and a half out of four farewell parties,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
I am just sorry the season is over. A bad SNW is usually better than most television shows out there.
ReplyDelete"Am I the only one who found this episode confusing and disappointing?"
ReplyDeleteYou are most definitely NOT alone. I was watching (remotely) with a friend and she texted at one point, "even Spock is confused! Glad it's not just me."
Way too many convenient coincidences, way too much Treknobabble, not enough set up...just disappointing, really. I did enjoy the scenes of what might have been between Batel and Pike (I'm a sucker for that sort of thing) and I hope it means maybe Pike's tragic future isn't written in stone but, like you, I was never really invested in their relationship so it felt somewhat empty.
I do hope the producers/writers genuinely take in the criticism and get back to what made this show so great in seasons 1 and 2. They have about a season and a half (only six episodes of S5? Boo!) to go out on a high note. Here's hoping.
ginajoy17, me too. I was so happy with the series and I want to be happy with it again.
DeleteThe scene where they conclude Batel was the protector was painful to watch, one outlandish supposition after another accepted as fact.
ReplyDeleteWe've come close to "pure evil" in Star Trek before, with Armus, but I agree this gave more out of place Buffy vibes.
Plot issues aside, I did like the sequence with Pike and Batel living their lives. They both sold it well. It's sad that this is the end of Batel (though we assumed it had to happen at some point), as im never disappointed to see Melanie Scrofano show up.
The highlight was definitley Kirk and Spock. The more we see him, the more I like Paul Wesley's Kirk. Though it is getting unrealistic thst they always call Kirk, and not the actual captain of the Farragut!
I think the problem with the Batel reveal was that it was all internal. She figured it out from what she was personally experiencing and the characters had to make logical leaps without that intuition guiding them. It felt off, forced, as though a plot was set and the characters has to adhere to it even though it didn't make sense. Where was Pike's fight to keep the woman he loves from disappearing forever?
DeleteThe evil was also too much of a mustache twirling villain, there was no nuance, nothing to sink our teeth into as far as what they were. We didn't really have a reason to develop them as a species because they were just evil. The reason the Borg worked as a threat is because it wasn't personal, they were intriguing because they were so detached. They weren't intentionally evil (well that became somewhat debatable when they introduced the Queen), they were purpose driven.
They were also way too easily defeated, a single person sacrificed themselves. A secondary character at that. Don't get me wrong, I love Melanie, but I kept waiting for that moment were I loved her character and it never came. What made it even worse was the fact that everything reset to the status quo, to the point where the crew are embarking on a new 5 year mission. The great love of Pike's life (apparently) gone like a footnote to his greater story.
I did love the Kirk and Spock stuff which means this wasn't a total let down. I'm just hoping S4 of SNW returns to form.