Lurker > Smiffwilm

also, it amuses me that i'm one of the few Cassie didn't block, since i think i was the first to actually call him out on his shtick. i guess i gave him a fair shake in more appropriate topics, which might have been what "saved" me.

Everything's ephemeral.

Considering his previous simulation of Leah Brahms, Geordi comes off as a bit hypocritical here.

He blocked me, which is fine by me.

I guess he did me too, his posts have disappeared.

Imagine being this salty over an old TV show.

Imagine being this salty over an old TV show.

There is. TC would have to block him.

Episode 22: Shades of Gray

So, that's why I was warned. It's a clip show. Well, it's bad and probably wins the worst episode award by virtue of not really being an episode at all, but it's bad in a very understandable and possibly, slightly excusable way. How the fuck do I even review it, though?

Episode 21: Peak Performance

War game episode and all from the Borg? Interesting.

Interesting statement from Picard about Starfleet not being a military organisation. That's some impressive optimism he has in his employers. Liked seeing his mounting frustration with Kolrami's bullying until he finally snapped and chewed him out. The line about mistakes to Data is fantastic. A couple of sweet grins shared with Riker to highlight their friendship.

Riker has a great attitude towards games and an even greater one towards La Forge's questions. Playing on Worf's psychology was a smooth move. Didn't take him long to warm up to Wesley's cheating. Continues to be a little irreverent even when the Ferengi show up.

La Forge is basically a miserable naysayer. Gets shit done, but does not like a moment of it.

Worf doesn't believe in war games. Still, he gets to do some great tactical work and Dorn's comedy chops are as fine as ever. The barely restrained anger when he breaks his model ship is a treat.

Troi tries to do some counselling work on Data, but it doesn't really take. Sure, she keeps him from an infinite loop of analysing Riker, but I think she's the only member of this ensemble who's poorly served by the episode.

Data goes through a crisis of confidence after losing the game. But he learns another valuable lesson about being human. Like Dorn, Spiner's comedy chops and sense of timing are on fire. Being perplexed by Pulaski mouthing was especially grand.

Wesley sneaking his experiment aboard almost feels Kirkian in how it rewrites the rules of the game. Would not have expected it from him. There's still an uncomfortable smugness in parts, but this is a better showing for him than his own focus episodes.

Absolutely love Pulaski in this. Despising Kolrami on principle already had me hooked, but she had so many moments like silently pleading with Data and lightly waving her arms in excitement when he agrees. Their friendship might be a subtle retcon, but I don't mind in the slightest, especially since she's basically playing mother to him now. Frankly, she's adorable.

Burke sticks out for being completely disinterested in whatever bollocks Wesley is on about.

Kolrami is certainly something. Smug, smarmy, catty and more than a bit camp, the way he runs onscreen in the first scene tells you everything about him. Entertainingly unpleasant.

The Ferengi are back as a serious villain. They're not quite as good as The Battle, but better than The Last Outpost.

The Hathaway is a beautiful ship. Much more angular and blocky than the curvy Enterprise. Even the dilapidated bridge has a functional look to its design that is great to look at. I loved hearing the old whistle, too.

Gaming archetypes seem to be today's theme. Even with being first hand witnesses to the Borg, neither Picard nor Riker finds the war game a particularly serious exercise and they treat it accordingly. Picard straight up teasing with his first move is honestly kind of cute. Compare this to Kolrami disliking Riker precisely because he enjoys himself and it's clear that he's a "stop having fun!" guy, though, to his credit, he quite likes the sensor scheme. This plays into Stratagema, too, which is blatantly an incomprehensible Atari game. Kolrami's drive to win and smugness when it inevitably happens is a neat contrast with Riker not minding his loss at all and just wanting to play for its own sake. Data, of course, loses self esteem over his loss, partly because Kolrami's attitude amounts to bullying, but is able to genuinely enjoy himself in the rematch by basically fucking around and finding out. Kolrami, naturally, rage quits against such a "cheap" strategy. Even Wesley's cheating is quickly appreciated because it lends to a more interesting game, without being an instant win condition. Finally, the Ferengi, in a nice redress of their capitalist nature, are opportunistic griefers. They spoil the game outright and get chased off by the other competitors.

Not a bad episode, at all.

Later today (maybe), we close with Shades of Gray.

Correction it is people who say watch Season 2 are the ones to be ignored.

Season 2 is utter junk. The only decent episode of the season is the utterly fantastic Q Who.

So with you encouraging him to watch season 2 I suppose you are also encouraging him to watch Shades Of Gray aswell right?

Episode 2: Where Silence Has Lease

Mentioned several times before that my favourite story premise is finding weird shit and learning about it. So, an inexplicable void was always going to grab my attention.

Picard is worried about Worf and seeing that program, I don't blame him. He's actually pretty decent when Worf gets spooked by a similarity to his people's legends. Seems to have fully accepted Wesley as a member of the crew, judging by the encouraging pat on the shoulder. Still rubbing his head when stressed out. Agree with his decision to blow up the Enterprise. No decent option, really. Intrigued by his views on the afterlife.

Riker is developing a friendship with Worf. Continues his interest in old legends. Has quite an anxious tick with his hands. Mind is more than a bit frayed after his experience on the (not) Yamato. It's actually kind of funny how desperately he stops the self destruct sequence.

La Forge is honestly a bit rude when Nagilum appears.

Worf gets up to some fun snarling. Lost his temper and had a mini meltdown on the Yamato.

Troi is back to stating the obvious. Better than being raped. She vanishes from the bridge midway through for no obvious reason.

Data is quite eager to engage Pulaski in a debate. Even though its a fake, asking about death does seem like the sort of thing the real Data would do.

Wesley is perfectly fine. He mostly just does his job (and fucks off long enough for Haskell to die in his place), but, no complaints at all.

In two minds on Pulaski. Her bigotry towards Data is more savage than last time and she makes only a token effort to be decent. I maintain that Data is too innocent and literal for this dynamic to fully work. Still, Muldaur has a presence to her and the character does offer a decent argument against the self destruct plan.

Nagilum has an amazing design. That might be a controversial statement due to how dodgy the cgi looks, but the uncannyness is the point. He only superficially resembles a human and, along with the other vibes of this episode, he manages to be quite horrifying.

The episode is clearly trying to evoke a horror atmosphere here. The pacing is kept deliberately slow to gradually build up the spookiness of the void. Each observation is analysed in just the right amount of detail before moving onto the next. Problems are gradually ratcheted up in severity. Everyone's acting becomes increasingly more on edge. There is very little music, just the ship's ambience, talking and, appropriately, a lot of silence. Like the last episode, pauses and quiet moments are used to emphasise emotions. There's an obvious preference for a set of spooky, weird, isolated vignettes than making it make sense. Nagilum works more effectively than most as the monster reveal. The effect is a wonderfully foreboding feel to the whole thing.

Picard has a great philosophy for a potential afterlife, bit more interesting is that comes to it through admitted ignorance. Data gets in on the act, outright saying that admitted ignorance is a cornerstone of scientific inquiry. Even Nagilum, monstrous though he is, is motivated by curiosity. It took me a little bit to fully understand why Nagilum was allowed to criticise humanity, despite his own problems, but a decent number of his points relate to a sort of arrogance and certainty in the world. The flaws he picks out interfere with our curiosity, which, to him, is a tragedy bordering on a crime. Picard, meanwhile, rejects both sides of the typical religious/atheist afterlife debate because he is unable to reconcile any amount of certainty in what comes next with his own faith in the sheer inexplicableness of the universe. And all of this is framed in a larger story of encountering a new thing and trying to learn about it. There is a problem, which is that Nagilum still an awful piece of work.

Mostly great story.

I wonder who Elementary, Dear Data will focus on.

Unfortunately you've put Miu at 34

This aspect might be hard tho given that I'm uh...

Usually partaking of the Devil's lettuce when I play these kinds of games. >_>

Imma get real lost if some parts are super complicated lmao

Oh wait, Zero Escape includes that 999 game?

I've heard about 999 for years, always wanted to play it. Shit. Maybe that will be my next series I tackle.

Have you played the Zero Escape series?

Lemme guess

"Shes really a 3000 year old alien!"

Eh, he was indoctrinated anyways.

How is the area around you?

why was TC suspended?

Barnacles have proportionally the largest penises of any animal.

Look at that design

Would've been a good opportunity to ease us into whoever is going to play Wolverine next. I love Huge Jackedman, but let him retire for real from the role.

Xenomorph dead
Will CE melt from acid damage?

Shut

Hugh Neutron

https://youtu.be/COdTiXd_vjA