Best. Trek. Ever.
Oct. 7th, 2010 10:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunabee34I am besotted with season five of Voyager. We're getting married next week. Y'all are invited. Romulan ale for all!
We just watched what I think may just be the best episode of any Trek franchise ever. Ever. (At the very least in the top ten.)
"Once Upon a Time" is pretty much perfect in every way. First of all, hell of a casting job. The kid they've got playing Naomi Wildman is amazing. Although I think Jake and Nog were very well developed and acted characters on DS9, they are much older at their first appearances than Naomi is supposed to be. Star Trek usually just doesn't do well representing the little kiddos in my opinion; however, Naomi acts just like a kid--age appropriate reactions, cute but not supernaturally so, precocious but not giving Data a run for his money.
I love watching her daily routine, how much the different crew members care about her and the communal responsibility they take for her education. I love how self-sufficient and reliant she is (which how could she be anything but given her environment). In another episode she talks about how the only people that really play with her are Neelix and her mom, and I think about how much time she must spend alone. Heck, she wakes up in her quarters alone, and is totally okay with that. At four years old, I would not have handled that with such aplomb.
I love the subject matter--the very real possibility that Naomi's mother Sam will die. (And I was on the edge of my seat the whole time sobbing; I thought they were going to kill her and, oh wow, *flaily hands*.) I love this show's unflinching look at the very real and very difficult consequences of situations. (As an aside, I was watching the TNG episode "Ensign Ro" the other day and I was so struck by how *academic* TNG is. They've all read the textbooks and scored high on the holo-sims, but they so very seldom encounter anything outside their own rarefied existence.) I also just about bawled myself into a headache when Tuvok said the nicest thing he's ever said to anyone probably ever to Sam--that she was an awesome mom and Naomi would be an awesome kid and everybody on Voyager would love and take care of her. Sam's goodbye vid to Naomi and Tom's vid for B'Elanna just about did me in.
Add in some excellent character work for Neelix. Damn can Ethan Phillips act. I mean, Neelix looks faintly ridiculous and he plays the fool, that self-deprecating humor and love of puns. He should be a joke. And yet he is, I think, the most emotionally complex and compelling character of all. He is so kind and so giving, and despite the self-deprecation, so competent and adaptable and courageous. He's also one of the most tortured characters on the show. *loves*
What I loved most, though, is the wonderful world building we get in this episode. Flotter and Treevus are kind of awesome. It's great to see what Federation children do in their free time; it's nice to have that connection between Naomi and the adult characters. This is also the episode that comes closest to fulfilling my strong desire for a time and world specific vocabulary when Naomi describes cellular processes in terms of warp technology. The lack of unique idioms is something that's always frustrated me about Star Trek (or any sci-fi show that's not set in the present). There should be a wide variety of figures of speech based on future entertainment, history, and technology, and there's just not. That bothers me. Firefly is the one sci-fi show that gets that right.
"Timeless" explores my absolute favorite sci-fic trope. It's Elizabeth in "Before I Sleep" and Rodney in "The Last Man." I love what they're doing with Harry Kim, making him harder and more grownup, hurting him so pretty (incidentally, this is the very same quality that makes Harry Josh's least favorite character. "He's always getting hurt, and he's way too old for the Wesley Crusher routine. He annoys me.")
Finally, I've always liked Seven of Nine, but I didn't realize how amazing an actor Jeri Ryan is until "Infinite Regression" when she played all those split personalities. Really astounding character work. (Bonus points for her burgeoning friendship with Naomi.)
We just watched what I think may just be the best episode of any Trek franchise ever. Ever. (At the very least in the top ten.)
"Once Upon a Time" is pretty much perfect in every way. First of all, hell of a casting job. The kid they've got playing Naomi Wildman is amazing. Although I think Jake and Nog were very well developed and acted characters on DS9, they are much older at their first appearances than Naomi is supposed to be. Star Trek usually just doesn't do well representing the little kiddos in my opinion; however, Naomi acts just like a kid--age appropriate reactions, cute but not supernaturally so, precocious but not giving Data a run for his money.
I love watching her daily routine, how much the different crew members care about her and the communal responsibility they take for her education. I love how self-sufficient and reliant she is (which how could she be anything but given her environment). In another episode she talks about how the only people that really play with her are Neelix and her mom, and I think about how much time she must spend alone. Heck, she wakes up in her quarters alone, and is totally okay with that. At four years old, I would not have handled that with such aplomb.
I love the subject matter--the very real possibility that Naomi's mother Sam will die. (And I was on the edge of my seat the whole time sobbing; I thought they were going to kill her and, oh wow, *flaily hands*.) I love this show's unflinching look at the very real and very difficult consequences of situations. (As an aside, I was watching the TNG episode "Ensign Ro" the other day and I was so struck by how *academic* TNG is. They've all read the textbooks and scored high on the holo-sims, but they so very seldom encounter anything outside their own rarefied existence.) I also just about bawled myself into a headache when Tuvok said the nicest thing he's ever said to anyone probably ever to Sam--that she was an awesome mom and Naomi would be an awesome kid and everybody on Voyager would love and take care of her. Sam's goodbye vid to Naomi and Tom's vid for B'Elanna just about did me in.
Add in some excellent character work for Neelix. Damn can Ethan Phillips act. I mean, Neelix looks faintly ridiculous and he plays the fool, that self-deprecating humor and love of puns. He should be a joke. And yet he is, I think, the most emotionally complex and compelling character of all. He is so kind and so giving, and despite the self-deprecation, so competent and adaptable and courageous. He's also one of the most tortured characters on the show. *loves*
What I loved most, though, is the wonderful world building we get in this episode. Flotter and Treevus are kind of awesome. It's great to see what Federation children do in their free time; it's nice to have that connection between Naomi and the adult characters. This is also the episode that comes closest to fulfilling my strong desire for a time and world specific vocabulary when Naomi describes cellular processes in terms of warp technology. The lack of unique idioms is something that's always frustrated me about Star Trek (or any sci-fi show that's not set in the present). There should be a wide variety of figures of speech based on future entertainment, history, and technology, and there's just not. That bothers me. Firefly is the one sci-fi show that gets that right.
"Timeless" explores my absolute favorite sci-fic trope. It's Elizabeth in "Before I Sleep" and Rodney in "The Last Man." I love what they're doing with Harry Kim, making him harder and more grownup, hurting him so pretty (incidentally, this is the very same quality that makes Harry Josh's least favorite character. "He's always getting hurt, and he's way too old for the Wesley Crusher routine. He annoys me.")
Finally, I've always liked Seven of Nine, but I didn't realize how amazing an actor Jeri Ryan is until "Infinite Regression" when she played all those split personalities. Really astounding character work. (Bonus points for her burgeoning friendship with Naomi.)
no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 03:14 am (UTC)I have a favour to ask: would you be able to take a quick look at something and tell me whether or not it's crap? I'm trying to decide whether or not to drop out of the Cameron Mitchell trope ficathon and I CANNOT tell if my writing is any good. Poor brain is over-stressed.
(It's only about 2000 words so far)
I have one or two other people I can ask if you're too busy; I know it's a crazy time of year.
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Date: 2010-10-08 03:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 04:03 am (UTC)(HOMG why am I so nervous?)
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Date: 2010-10-09 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-08 02:20 pm (UTC)Naomi really was fantastic, wasn't she? She's one of the very few child characters I can't remember getting hated on, and there's a reason for that. ♥
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Date: 2010-10-09 04:45 pm (UTC)I looked on imdb and Naomi is in 17 episodes total! Yay! I'm excited about that.
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Date: 2010-10-08 06:09 pm (UTC)(It's funny; back in the day I was like, yep, give me some Paris/Torres and Chakotay/Janeway, and now I'd be all over the Chakotay/Paris. *g*)
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Date: 2010-10-09 04:48 pm (UTC)I don't know who I would have shipped if I'd been watching it pre-fandom exposure. Chakotay/Janeway for sure and also Kes/Neelix. (Which I still ship. I love the het ships on this show!!)
I like Chakotay/Paris but (like Spander and Harry/Draco) it's not something I see in canon. I am all about the Paris/Kim, and sadly that pairing is much less to be found than others. *sniff*
Is Seven of Nine/Me an appropriate response to the pairing question? LOL