Star Trek

Unlike many Trekkies, I haven’t waited for years for a new Star Trek film. In fact, prior to watching the show today, I wasn’t sure which incarnation of Star Trek was which and found myself wondering “when’s Worf going to show up?”, until I realised that was a different Star Trek.

Armed with that much “knowledge” of Star Trek, I freely admit I wouldn’t have been bothered to watch the 2009 film if it weren’t for the creators like JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, who’ve worked on many of my favourite shows like Alias, Lost and Fringe.

Whatever I was expecting going in the show (a space show) it wasn’t it. Instead we had multiple realities, alternate words and time travel (I don’t know if this has happened before on Star Trek), and it was just like watching an episode of Lost or Fringe.

I did pretty much enjoy the show, getting to know Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Scotty, McCoy and Chekov for the first time (I swear in one scene Kirk refers to him as jerkoff), but I will say I didn’t feel the “magic” of Star Wars, or the Matrix from the film.

The opening scene where Kirk’s dad sacrifices himself to save both Kirk’s mother and Kirk, as well as other crew members, is very emotionally powerful, as is young Spock’s musings about which path to choose in life. Unfortunately, the level of emotional tension eases once adult Kirk is brought into the picture with his arrogance and fight-picking for no apparent reason.

The biggest thing I didn’t like about the show was the portrayal of Captain Kirk. I don’t know if it’s down to the writing or Chris Pine’s acting, but it just didn’t work for me. He’s shown to be too much of a jackass throughout most of the show to really be the “hero” by show’s end, and the reconciliation between him and Spock just came too easily for me.

Speaking of Spock, old Spock (or Prime Spock) really revealed the awesomeness that is Leonard Nimoy and I think the few scenes he was in really added much needed weight to the show.

There were not Lost references as far as I could tell, the closest being the number on the Enterprise reading 1701, which backwards is 10(7+1) = 108. But you know, Lost fans see Lost everywhere, even when they don’t exist.

As a prequel (or a light reboot), I think the show works. It’s kinda like watching Spider-Man for the first time and finding out who he is and what is character’s like, but having to wait till the sequel for the story to really develop. As long as JJ Abrams and gang are on board, I will be too.

ps: You can read the review that the girlfriend put up here.

Inspired by Rayni, I’ve decided (albeit very belatedly) to post up the shows I will continue to watch this season. The series are in no particular order because some I can’t decide how much I like, and putting it in chronological order wouldn’t work cos I timeshift all my shows anyway.

1. Heroes (because I want to see just how bad it can be)
2. Prison Break (liking this almost as much as season one)
3. Life (better than season one)
4. Dirty Sexy Money (took awhile to bring pieces together, but it has)
5. Life On Mars (liking this more than I thought I would. Quirky show)
6. Knight Rider (critics hate it, I love it)
7. The Mentalist (fun and interesting)
8. Fringe (I’m three episodes behind but I need to see where all this is going)
9. Chuck (more than five episodes behind, but it’s a great show)
10. Dexter (better than season two, not as good as season one. yet)
11. How I Met Your Mother (huge disappointment so far, but hopefully it gets better)
12. Little Britain USA (sometimes the humour is too much even for me, but I enjoy watching this at the gym)
13. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (not particularly loving it, but can’t miss it as a Star Wars fan)
14. The Big Bang Theory (unlike How I Met Your Mother, every episode has been hilarious)
15. The Amazing Race (I can’t believe how much I am enjoying this series! It’s been awhile!)

Stuff I’m catching up on slowly:

1. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (not a fan of the Terminator series, but this isn’t bad)
2. Gossip Girl (haven’t gotten past season one, but I will, soon)

The list can only expand in 2009 with 24, Lost, Reaper and Dollhouse being released. Definitely looking forward to all of them!

How about you? What’re you watching or TiVo-ing? What’s caught your eye that isn’t on my list?

My general thoughts so far on the freshman series that have debuted this year: Not bad, but waiting for better. An underlying trend in all of them is that apparently an overarching “mystery” or story arc is the way to go these days (a la Heroes or Lost). The shows in question? Knight Rider 2008, Fringe, The Mentalist and The Clone Wars.

Knight Rider

Knight Rider
I had no idea what this series was about going in, except it involved a car. Well, it doesn’t just involve a car, it’s a freaking transformer! (I use that term lightly). It’s a remake of a 1982 series, so if you were alive then (I wasn’t), it might hold some nostalgia value for you. I watched the pilot and within the first 8 minutes, decided I was going to love the show. It’s a campy show with a couple of agents and a support team, as well as an AI car, KITT. The interactions between KITT and the lead agents are often hilarious, and the mystery between what’s going on with Mike’s memories/history is fairly interesting. Don’t go in expecting too much. This is a fast car, weapons ablazing, hot female lead with clothes coming off kinda show. But it’s fun. My prediction: It’ll get picked up for a full season

The Clone Wars
Coming hot off the Clone Wars movie, Star Wars is back on TV! I need to say I didn’t manage to catch the Clone Wars animated movie because I was traveling, so I’m reviewing this independent of the movie. I am a huge Star Wars fan. About 1/3 of the books I own are Star Wars books. But this animated series just isn’t doing it for me. I get a kick out of seeing Plo Koon and Ashoka in action, but it’s not as fun as the previous animated cartoon that ran on the Cartoon Network. I don’t know if it’s the animation style, or the creators that are responsible for it. I guess essentially if you like the Star Wars franchise, you should watch this just for fun little short adventures in the corners of the Star Wars universe set in the Clone Wars. Just don’t expect too much. My prediction: It’s running for as long as George Lucas wants it to.

Robin Tunney

The Mentalist
I just watched this last night on the recommendation of Jason Gabe, and I was pleasantly surprised. First, the series seems like a serious take on the show “Psyche”, which is a comedy of a guy which superb observation skills that he seems like he’s psychic. Same thing, except this is a serious show. The main character, Patrick Jane, doesn’t really stand out as a unique person, but he reminds me of Charlie Crews from Life. Again, whether it’s the actor or the writing of the character, I’m not sure. The upside is, it’s nice to see Robin Tunney (Veronica from season one of Prison Break) back on tv. I’m not sure I liked her as Veronica, but she’s got a commanding presence on this show. Oh, and the Red John subplot that is going on is the most intriguing one so far. Not going to give too much away, watch the pilot to know what I’m talking about. My prediction: Hard to say. Solid series have been known to be overlooked from time to time. I’m going to say it gets picked up for a full season, but not necessarily renewed.

Fringe
I’ve already talked about Fringe earlier in the season. Suffice to say four episodes in and nothing is changing my mind. The latest episode, in particular was a very very weak effort to shove an explanation for Peter Bishop’s presence into viewer’s faces. Still waiting for it to get better, but for now I feel Lance Reddick is being wasted here and should be back on Lost. My prediction: It’s already been picked up for a full season, I’m betting it gets renewed. C’mon, it’s JJ Abrams.

Any new shows this season I’m missing? I know there’s 90210 and Sons of Anarchy, but there’s too much good stuff right now to start on them. Let me know if there are other hidden gems!

Three episodes in, I think it’s a good time to check in on Fringe, the latest work from JJ Abrams (creator of both Lost and Alias, who is also working on the next Star Trek film).

I had a set of thoughts for the first episode, and the second, and again they are mirrored in the third:

1) Walter Bishop – Okay come on. Is it possible that every event in “The Pattern” that occurs, is linked to Walter Bishop’s research 17 years ago? It’s getting tired.

2) Massive Dynamic – Similarly, everything is linked to them? I don’t know how stupid Dunham is, but clearly something fishy is going on when you’ve undertaken three cases, and Massive Dynamic is the common thread in all three.

3) Peter Bishop – Is there an actual reason for him to be here other than the flimsy “your father needs a guardian” reason? It seems it’s between that, and him doing things outside the law that Olivia can’t do, and some obvious romantic tension with Olivia

4) Anna Torv – Her acting is fine, but honestly a TV show like this needs a prettier face. Also, she’s mourning the death of her ex-partner and lover. We get it already, move on.

5) The Pattern – This part I like. I don’t know what’s going on with Broyles and Sharp, but I like it. The conspiracy going on here is what I’m most interested about.

Overall, Fringe feels like an X-Files lite show, with none of the compelling Mulder/Scully characters. There’s a danger of it being formulaic (Smallville, anyone?) and it needs to change that soon. I don’t love the show, and right now only JJ Abram’s name is keeping me watching. I hope he does some magic soon!