30 Days of Star Trek Days 19, 20 and 21
Sep. 22nd, 2019 03:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivendellroseDay 19 - Favorite Enterprise Episode
Can I count "Babel One," "The Aenar," and "United" all as one episode, since storywise they run right into each other? Yes? Then I'm doing that.
This arc has some undeniable issues, like the fridging of Talas, the literally immediate replacement of her with another love interest for Shran, the fact that that love interest is, uh, coded as quite young and naive compared to Shran? And also some things that probably bother only me, like "Why the hell do the Aenar have lights in their caves when they're blind?"
But.
Shran is my favorite Enterprise character by a long shot, so of course I'm going to like anything that involves a lot of him, and these episodes also include some truly delightful stuff, like the utterly classic-to-Star-Trek construction of a situation where Shran and Archer have to fight to the death, Shran getting impaled through the thigh with stalagtite that winds up looking strangely phallic due to its placement, Shran being strangely poetic and getting to be an odd romantic hero to someone who falls instantly in love with him... look, it basically is a Shran fiesta. What other episode am I going to love best? No matter how #Problematic! it is, I love this arc with dorky unreserved passion, and happily paper over all the awkward bits in my head. I watched these episodes (and, in fact, every ENT episode with Shran in it) while I was recovering from a really shitty life event, and apparently my brain decided that falling headfirst in love with Shran was one of the ways I needed to deal with that life event. And so I was thrilled when he was given canonical love interests for me to enjoy in addition to his obvious and delightful UST with Archer.
And anyway, she may be awkwardly written, but I like Jhamel. I like Talas, too. I really like both of them and Shran, and another character of my andgaslightgallows's creation together as a four-sexed foursome, but, alas, that was not to happen in canon. Although it's gotten to the point now, three years later, that I sometimes half-forget it didn't...
Day 20 - Character You're Most Like
Oh, fucking hell, I don't know! I've definitely got a temper/tendency to irritability and grudge-holding like Kira, and I've thankfully gotten it mostly under control much like she did over the years, but to say that I'm like her is... perhaps excessive. But probably as close as I'm going to get to one single person. I definitely am more spiritual than religious, more doubting than faithful, with significantly less tragedy in my life and much less physical confidence and control. Also, no knack whatsoever for fighting of any kind. But the other characters I can think of are even more of a stretch, so I guess that's where we're going.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some minor character who would be more appropriate, but... for the life of me I cannot think of anyone.
Day 21 - Least Favorite Character
Neelix.
Usually I adore the alien character, particularly the alien-out-of-their-element. But someone decided that Neelix should be the comic relief. And not the interesting comic relief like Quark, either. Oh, they tried, though. And the "serious" Neelix plotlines were the only thing more agonizing than the "funny" Neelix plotlines, IMHO.
It wasn't Ethan Phillips' fault. I've seen him in other roles where he's entirely tolerable, even quite likable. It's the just character. He is nails on a chalkboard for me. And I say that as a person who genuinely likes a fair number of the Ferengi episodes of DS9. Neelix is like a Ferengi without the social commentary or actual entertainment value. He's just a buffoon for the sake of having a buffoon. If Neelix was excised from Voyager and replaced with an entirely different character -- say, one who did not compulsively wear the ugliest suits ever and shriek his "humor" all over the place and behave in a weirdly controlling way with his girlfriend -- the whole show would instantly become about 30% more palatable to me.
Day 1 - Favorite Episode of TOS
Day 2 - Favorite Federation Race
Day 3 - Favorite Ship
Day 4 - Favorite Captain
Day 5 - Saddest Event
Day 6 - Happiest Event
Day 7 - Favorite TNG Episode
Day 8 - Favorite Federation Enemy
Day 9 - Favorite Character
Day 10 - Most Shocking Moment
Day 11 - Crew Position You Would Want
Day 12 - Crew Position You Would Not Want
Day 13 - Favorite DS9 Episode
Day 14 - Favorite Time Travel Episode
Day 15 - Favorite First Officer
Day 16 - Favorite Voyager Episode
Day 17 - Favorite Trek Novel
Day 18 - Favorite Non-Aligned Race
Day 22 - Favorite Trek Film
Day 23 - Best Trek Tech
Day 24 - Best Overall Space Vessel
Day 25 - Favorite Discovery Episode
Day 26 - Planet You Would Most Like To Visit
Day 27 - Character You Would Date
Day 28 - Name Your Own Starship
Day 29 - Favorite Trek Quote
Day 30 - Favorite Trek Series
Can I count "Babel One," "The Aenar," and "United" all as one episode, since storywise they run right into each other? Yes? Then I'm doing that.
This arc has some undeniable issues, like the fridging of Talas, the literally immediate replacement of her with another love interest for Shran, the fact that that love interest is, uh, coded as quite young and naive compared to Shran? And also some things that probably bother only me, like "Why the hell do the Aenar have lights in their caves when they're blind?"
But.
Shran is my favorite Enterprise character by a long shot, so of course I'm going to like anything that involves a lot of him, and these episodes also include some truly delightful stuff, like the utterly classic-to-Star-Trek construction of a situation where Shran and Archer have to fight to the death, Shran getting impaled through the thigh with stalagtite that winds up looking strangely phallic due to its placement, Shran being strangely poetic and getting to be an odd romantic hero to someone who falls instantly in love with him... look, it basically is a Shran fiesta. What other episode am I going to love best? No matter how #Problematic! it is, I love this arc with dorky unreserved passion, and happily paper over all the awkward bits in my head. I watched these episodes (and, in fact, every ENT episode with Shran in it) while I was recovering from a really shitty life event, and apparently my brain decided that falling headfirst in love with Shran was one of the ways I needed to deal with that life event. And so I was thrilled when he was given canonical love interests for me to enjoy in addition to his obvious and delightful UST with Archer.
And anyway, she may be awkwardly written, but I like Jhamel. I like Talas, too. I really like both of them and Shran, and another character of my and
gaslightgallows's creation together as a four-sexed foursome, but, alas, that was not to happen in canon. Although it's gotten to the point now, three years later, that I sometimes half-forget it didn't... Day 20 - Character You're Most Like
Oh, fucking hell, I don't know! I've definitely got a temper/tendency to irritability and grudge-holding like Kira, and I've thankfully gotten it mostly under control much like she did over the years, but to say that I'm like her is... perhaps excessive. But probably as close as I'm going to get to one single person. I definitely am more spiritual than religious, more doubting than faithful, with significantly less tragedy in my life and much less physical confidence and control. Also, no knack whatsoever for fighting of any kind. But the other characters I can think of are even more of a stretch, so I guess that's where we're going.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some minor character who would be more appropriate, but... for the life of me I cannot think of anyone.
Day 21 - Least Favorite Character
Neelix.
Usually I adore the alien character, particularly the alien-out-of-their-element. But someone decided that Neelix should be the comic relief. And not the interesting comic relief like Quark, either. Oh, they tried, though. And the "serious" Neelix plotlines were the only thing more agonizing than the "funny" Neelix plotlines, IMHO.
It wasn't Ethan Phillips' fault. I've seen him in other roles where he's entirely tolerable, even quite likable. It's the just character. He is nails on a chalkboard for me. And I say that as a person who genuinely likes a fair number of the Ferengi episodes of DS9. Neelix is like a Ferengi without the social commentary or actual entertainment value. He's just a buffoon for the sake of having a buffoon. If Neelix was excised from Voyager and replaced with an entirely different character -- say, one who did not compulsively wear the ugliest suits ever and shriek his "humor" all over the place and behave in a weirdly controlling way with his girlfriend -- the whole show would instantly become about 30% more palatable to me.
Day 1 - Favorite Episode of TOS
Day 2 - Favorite Federation Race
Day 3 - Favorite Ship
Day 4 - Favorite Captain
Day 5 - Saddest Event
Day 6 - Happiest Event
Day 7 - Favorite TNG Episode
Day 8 - Favorite Federation Enemy
Day 9 - Favorite Character
Day 10 - Most Shocking Moment
Day 11 - Crew Position You Would Want
Day 12 - Crew Position You Would Not Want
Day 13 - Favorite DS9 Episode
Day 14 - Favorite Time Travel Episode
Day 15 - Favorite First Officer
Day 16 - Favorite Voyager Episode
Day 17 - Favorite Trek Novel
Day 18 - Favorite Non-Aligned Race
Day 22 - Favorite Trek Film
Day 23 - Best Trek Tech
Day 24 - Best Overall Space Vessel
Day 25 - Favorite Discovery Episode
Day 26 - Planet You Would Most Like To Visit
Day 27 - Character You Would Date
Day 28 - Name Your Own Starship
Day 29 - Favorite Trek Quote
Day 30 - Favorite Trek Series
no subject
Date: 2019-09-24 06:12 pm (UTC)True story, I forgot this is non-canonical SO HARD that I was actually on IMDB the other day looking for the guy who played Andorian #4 before I remember that... we made him up...
no subject
Date: 2019-09-24 06:46 pm (UTC)Oh, I love it! Did we ever make a solid decision on who ought to play that character? I feel like we did, but I can't remember who...
I forget all the time that our version of Sonny isn't actual canon as opposed to semi-book-canon with TONS of additions and embroidery...
no subject
Date: 2019-09-24 07:16 pm (UTC)I... not that I remember? I almost want to say it was a BSG actor, but that might just be because that's our go-to stable, as it were. :P
And I tend to forget that we didn't just make up Sonny and that he does actually appear in at least one tie-in novel.