Posts Tagged ‘Tor.com’

The ep that launched a thousand snarks

Welcome to yet another Thursday and, with it, another piping-hot installment of the Tor.com weekly column Star Trek Re-watch by yours truly and Dayton Ward. This week, I’m on recap duty, and Dayton’s in charge of analysis.

This week’s episode of interest is “Elaan of Troyius.” Jeez, talked about mixed metaphors: the title references Helen of Troy, the plot is cribbed from Shakespeare’s play The Taming of the Shrew, and the costumes are swiped in equal parts from Antony & Cleopatra and your grandmother’s kitchen.

This is actually kind of a fun episode … but it’s not what one would call one of Star Trek‘s more “enlightened” hours of entertainment.

Catch up on our recaps of third-season Star Trek with this handy index:

  1. Spock’s Brain
  2. The Enterprise Incident
  3. The Paradise Syndrome
  4. And the Children Shall Lead
  5. Is There in Truth No Beauty?
  6. Spectre of the Gun
  7. Day of the Dove
  8. For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
  9. The Tholian Web
  10. Plato’s Stepchildren
  11. Wink of an Eye
  12. The Empath

Make sure you remember to leave comments on the articles at Tor.com, so that Dayton and I can convince ourselves that this gig isn’t merely an exercise in futility.

Be sure to watch this space next week, when we bring you Dayton’s play-by-play and my color commentary on “Whom Gods Destroy.” (Watch it for free on the CBS website.)

Until then, here’s wishing everyone a very happy, safe, and prosperous New Year!

How I feel about “The Empath”

It’s Thursday, my friends! That means it’s time for yet another installment of Tor.com‘s weekly feature, Star Trek Re-watch, by Dayton Ward and yours truly.

This week’s subject of scrutiny is the third-season episode “The Empath,” in which our heroes wake up in a dark, featureless space with a mute young woman who can sense emotions and heal with a touch.

This intriguing episode held up even better than I had remembered. Stylishly directed and photographed, smartly written, and beautifully played by everyone involved, this is a thought-provoking and moving hour of Star Trek.

Of course, that didn’t stop Dayton and me from making a few jokes at its expense, because … well, because we’re jerks, and that’s what Tor is paying us to do.

If you haven’t seen it in a while, watch “The Empath” now for free on the CBS website. A story of love, empathy, and sacrifice, it’s a good Star Trek story to watch right before Christmas (except for the whole torture and bondage aspect, which probably would have been a better fit with Easter).

If you’ve got time to spare while waiting for your egg to nog, take a gander at my and Dayton’s previous Re-watch entries:

  1. Spock’s Brain
  2. The Enterprise Incident
  3. The Paradise Syndrome
  4. And the Children Shall Lead
  5. Is There in Truth No Beauty?
  6. Spectre of the Gun
  7. Day of the Dove
  8. For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
  9. The Tholian Web
  10. Plato’s Stepchildren
  11. Wink of an Eye

As always, please leave comments on the Tor.com article, to let us know we’re not just hurling electrons into the ether without purpose. Until next week, a joyous holiday season to one and all!

Wincing at “Wink of an Eye”

If today is Thursday, then this must be the Star Trek Re-watch! Over at TOR.COM, fellow Trek-nerd Dayton Ward and I sharpen our rhetorical knives and carve a few chunks out of the third-season original series episode “Wink of an Eye.” You remember: pretty people in silver pajamas, led by a gal in half a dress, who live in hyper-time and sound like mosquitoes.

I won’t lie to you, friends—this was not a highlight of the series. If you don’t believe me, you can watch it for free on the CBS website (U.S. residents only, sorry).

On the other hand, if you like people in silver pajamas who slip roofies into your drink, then you’re gonna LOVE this…

For those of you just joining our train wreck of a weekly column, here’s a recap of what Dayton and I have recapped and analyzed so far:

  1. Spock’s Brain
  2. The Enterprise Incident
  3. The Paradise Syndrome
  4. And the Children Shall Lead
  5. Is There in Truth No Beauty?
  6. Spectre of the Gun
  7. Day of the Dove
  8. For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
  9. The Tholian Web
  10. Plato’s Stepchildren

Remember to leave a comment on the TOR.COM articles to let us and our corporate masters benefactors know you were there. They like that sort of thing.

Until next week, beware of Scalosian blondes who slip roofies into your coffee.

Disowning “Plato’s Stepchildren”

We’re back, Trek fans! Alas, it’s to bring you our Star Trek Re-watch recap and commentary on one of those episodes that most acolytes of The Great Bird of the Galaxy like to pretend didn’t happen: “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Yes, the one where a dwarf rides Kirk like a horse and Spock sings “Maiden Wine.” I think Kirk’s expression in the photo below sums up our reaction perfectly:

Aw, go on, click the link and read the recap and analysis. You know you wanna. And in case you haven’t been keeping up, here’s the quick list of the weekly third-season recaps and analyses written by Dayton Ward and yours truly for the fine folks at TOR.COM —

  1. Spock’s Brain
  2. The Enterprise Incident
  3. The Paradise Syndrome
  4. And the Children Shall Lead
  5. Is There in Truth No Beauty?
  6. Spectre of the Gun
  7. Day of the Dove
  8. For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
  9. The Tholian Web

Read, laugh, enjoy — and remember to leave a comment over on TOR.COM so we know you’re out there. (We can hear you breathing, but that doesn’t impress our masters at Tor.)

Until next week, may all your meals be laced with kironide.

Catching up with Star Trek Re-watch

Another turn of the page-a-day calendar brings us once more to Thor’s day (or Thursday, for those of a more modern persuasion), and that can mean only one thing: a new installment of Tor.com‘s weekly feature Star Trek Re-watch, by Dayton Ward and yours truly.

A combination of illness, travel, and a holiday kept me from promoting last week’s Re-watch column, so this week you get a double feature — and what an “odd couple” of episodes this is. Back to back, we find one of the original series’ most laughable entries followed by one of its most laudable.

First up is “For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.” If you just couldn’t get enough of “The Paradise Syndrome” five weeks ago, then you’re in luck—most of that episode’s tropes (and effects shots) are recycled here for your viewing pleasure.

Then get ready to grab something heavy, because the next episode will blow you away: “The Tholian Web“ is far away one of the finest hours in the 40-plus years of the Star Trek saga.

For you completists, here’s the list of my and Dayton’s contributions to the Star Trek Re-watch:

  1. Spock’s Brain
  2. The Enterprise Incident
  3. The Paradise Syndrome
  4. And the Children Shall Lead
  5. Is There in Truth No Beauty?
  6. Spectre of the Gun
  7. Day of the Dove
  8. For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
  9. The Tholian Web

Go check ’em out, and leave a comment over there to let us know you’re paying attention!

Star Trek Re-watch: “Day of the Dove”

Another sunrise brings us another Thursday, and with it another Star Trek Re-watch column by Dayton Ward and Yours Truly!

This week we release the hounds on “Day of the Dove,” one of the third season’s less-awful hours of entertainment. It has everything you could ask for: swordfights, race hatred, hot Klingon babes, and a completely unexplained antagonist.

So, if you haven’t already been checking out our Re-watch columns, now is your chance. Head on over to Tor.com and enjoy!

The Mack & Ward Star Trek Re-watch Archive

1. 3×6 “Spock’s Brain” Sept. 20, 1968
2. 3×4 “The Enterprise Incident” Sept. 27, 1968
3. 3×3 “The Paradise Syndrome” Oct. 4, 1968
4. 3×5 “And the Children Shall Lead” Oct. 11, 1968
5. 3×7 “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” Oct. 18, 1968
6. 3×1 “Spectre of the Gun” Oct. 26, 1968

Lock & Load for Star Trek Re-watch!

Rise and shine, campers! (And not just because it’s 2:30 in the afternoon.) It’s Thursday, and you know what that means — a brand new installment of TOR.com‘s weekly feature, Star Trek Re-watch by Dayton Ward and yours truly. This week we take on the third-season episode “Spectre of the Gun“ with both guns blazing.

What are you in for? Half-built sets, floating heads that look like mutant broccoli, and James T. Kirk up against the most infuriating no-win scenario since the Kobayashi Maru. It’s a good one this week, kids, so enjoy!