Star Trek: Real Life

Episode: "Real Life"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 3, Episode 22

Original Air Date: April 23, 1997

via Memory Alpha

In his ongoing effort to broaden his own experiences, the Doctor creates a holodeck family for himself: a wife and two children.  Predictably, they are all nauseatingly perfect.  Torres makes a few tweaks to the program in order to provide the EMH - Kenneth to his family - with a more realistic experience.  Shocker, his wife and kids are now quite a lot more resistant to his efforts to control them.  What starts as chaos quickly turns to heartbreak when his daughter Bella suffers a terrible accident.

This is all part of the Doctor's wish to better understand his patients and it's an admirable goal.  The real barrier isn't so much lack of experience as lack of emotional range.  Last episode, I mentioned Kes's exceptional empathy.  Her strength is the Doctor's deficit.  Brilliant as he's constantly reminding everyone he is, he doesn't get people.  Unfortunately, that's a real world problem for too many in the medical profession. 

How does a computer program improve in this area?  As this story demonstrates, confronting pain and loss is important.  Perhaps most important of all for this particular character, admitting his own limits and vulnerability is essential.

The episode is good, but not nearly as good as the Starfleet Academy episode "The Life of the Stars" which referenced it 29 years later.

Acting Notes

via American Dad Wikia

Wendy Schaal played the role of Charlene, the Doctor's holodeck wife.  She was born in Chicago, July 2, 1954.  Her father Richard Schall was also a television actor who later married Valerie Harper, a fact which certainly helped Wendy's own acting career.  Wendy studied at Los Angeles City College.

Films have included Innerspace, The 'Burbs and Small Soldiers.  On television, she's had regular roles on Fantasy Island, Good Grief and It's a Living.  Early in her career, she made guest appearances on such classic shows as Little House on the Prairie, Rhoda and Welcome Back, Kotter among others.  She's had a successful voice acting career, including playing Francine Smith on American Dad! for the past 22 seasons and counting.  

Squid Mixes: Chanticleer

A Chanticleer combines gin, lemon juice, raspberry syrup and egg whites.  I got my recipe from The New York Bartender's Guide.  The word chanticleer means rooster, often referring specifically to the rooster character in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.  The drink was invented at New York's Waldorf-Astoria to celebrate the 1910 opening of Edmond Rostand's play Chantecler.  

I have a new toy in my mixing arsenal: Fee Foam.  It's essentially a synthetic egg white substitute, handy since the real thing has a very limited shelf life, even in the fridge.  Plus, Fee Foam avoids allergic reactions, not to mention the current salmonella outbreak.  I learned about the stuff from our niece, of all people, who works in a restaurant.  Basically, you add 4-6 drops in lieu of an egg white before shaking.  From what I've seen so far, the foam is not as impressive as what you get with the real thing.  But the advantages are undeniable so I'm happy to play around with it.

Wife and child (over 21) agreed that the result tasted like melted sorbet - a bit on the sweet side but good.

My main association with the word chanticleer is the men's vocal group - the best in the world.  Enjoy:

Star Trek: Favorite Son

Episode: "Favorite Son"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 3, Episode 20

Original Air Date: March 19, 1997

via Memory Alpha

Harry Kim is inexplicably drawn to the planet Taresia where the natives tell him he is one of their own.  An agent of their world traveled to Earth long ago and injected Taresian DNA into Harry's mother.  Now that he's finally "come home," the Taresians are eager for him to stay, marry three wives and have loads of children.  The Doctor's scans confirm that Harry does, indeed, carry Taresian DNA but something's fishy...

"Favorite Son" is the last of a three-episode run often referred to by fans as the "trilogy of terror."  In other words, they're notoriously bad.  I don't really think any of them are so terrible.  A little Harry development is always nice and it's only fitting that an Odyssey-like series should have a Sirens episode.  "Favorite Son" is definitely sexist so if that's the complaint, I will concede the point.  But otherwise, the story's okay - certainly far from terrible.  We've seen worse from Voyager!

 

In the end, it is revealed that the Taresian DNA was implanted in Harry long after his birth.  However, in the original script, there is no such plot twist.  Harry is a Taresian and would have been for the rest of the series.  That could have been interesting.  Instead, the writers let themselves off the hook for trying to figure out how to incorporate the revelation in future stories.

Acting Notes

via Criminal Minds Wiki

Cari Shayne played the role of Eliann, one of the Taresian women eager to marry Harry.  She was born in Sellersville, Tennessee, September 8, 1972.  Career highlights including recurring roles on General Hospital, Party of Five and The Bay.  She's also made guest appearances on Murder, She Wrote, Criminal Minds and This Is Us.  Films include Exposé, Jack the Dog and Good Fortune.

Star Trek: For the Uniform

Episode: "For the Uniform"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 13

Original Air Date: February 3, 1997

via Memory Alpha

Sisko hunts Eddington, the DS9 security officer who betrayed Starfleet and Sisko specifically by joining the Maquis.  Whenever Sisko gets close, Eddington always manages to sidestep.  Eddington says he wants to be left alone but he also can't help bating our dear captain.  It's quite a game they play.

The Eddington story overall is a good one.  Betrayal is always a meaningful way to kick off a narrative and a manhunt is inherently engaging.  That said, this particular installment is a mixed bag for me.  The quality of storytelling is solid.  But there are elements I find troubling.

First the good.  "For the Uniform" introduces Captain Sanders, commanding officer of the USS Malinche, for his only canon appearance.  Starfleet sends Sanders to take over the Eddington mission from Sisko, seeing the latter as both ineffective and emotionally compromised.  It's a tricky role.  Sanders first approaches Sisko with regret but also with a tinge of a scolding tone.  In the end, he must admit his own failure to catch Eddington and concede the mission is rightfully Sisko's.  His "save me a seat at his court martial line" is a nice face-saving moment, restoring trust between himself and Sisko.  An understated yet effective performance by guest star, Eric Pierpoint.

Now the trouble.  To get his man, Sisko deploys a biological weapon on a Maquis-settlement planet.  That's a war crime, folks, and it sure as hell isn't good Star Trek.  Even his own Defiant crew reacts with disbelief, though they do follow his order.  And this, my friends, is part of the problem with the Sisko as Emissary arc.  If you tell a man he's essentially a god, eventually he'll start to believe you.  Then he'll believe everything he wants is justified as a matter of divine right.

Sound familiar?

"For the Uniform" includes homages to several classic films, including Run Silent, Run Deep, The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.  

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

For Eric Pierpoint, "For the Uniform" is the second of seven Trek appearances as five different characters on four different series.  Pierpoint was born in Redlands, California, November 18, 1950, though he spent his adolescence in Bethesda, Maryland, not far from where I grew up myself.  He even graduated from Walt Whitman High School, our arch-rival.  For undergrad, he attended the University of the Redlands where he was also captain of the soccer team.  Then he got an MFA from Catholic University.

Pierpoint's best-known role is George Francisco in the Alien Nation series.  Other television work includes Hot Pursuit, Fame and Parks and Recreation.  Films include Windy City, Liar, Liar and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Star Trek: Macrocosm

Episode: "Macrocosm"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 3, Episode 12

Original Air Date: December 11, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Captain Janeway and Neelix return from an away mission to find the entire crew suffering from a debilitating virus.  The Doctor accidentally brought it back from his own away mission.  What had been microorganisms have grown and they're reproducing quickly.  Neelix quickly succumbs as well so it's left to the Captain and the Doctor to save the day.

How handy that Star Trek so often has one non-organic life form who is less vulnerable than everyone else, not unlike the Scarecrow and Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz.  

"Macrocosm" is a fairly obvious Aliens send up, though the writers have always denied it, likely for copyright infringement reasons.  The Trek creatives were no doubt still stinging from the brush back from the James Bond lawyers regarding "Our Man Bashir."   But Janeway wandering the halls in a tank top with a big, rifle-like weapon while weird creatures are emerging from people's bodies?  Sure looks like Aliens to me.

This episode goes on the long list of episodes other people seem to like but I don't.  The reason is not complicated.  I'm not a fan of horror films.  Indeed, I've never actually watched any of the Aliens movies myself.  So the tropes tend to induce anxiety rather than thrill.  Honestly, I found "Macrocosm" difficult to watch.  But I won't say it's a bad episode - just not my jam.

Acting Notes

via Dexter Wiki

Albie Selznick plays the Tak Tak Consul, representative of a culture who incorporates intricate body movements as part of their language.  Neelix masters the language quickly.  Janeway, not so much.  Selznick Selznick was born in Los Angeles County, January 1, 1959.  "Macrocosm" is his second of three Trek appearances.

Selznick performed as a magician with a group called The Mums for 25 years.  The Mums appeared together in Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.  Most of Selznick's high-profile work has been on television, including appearances on Suddenly Susan, The Young and the Restless and NYPD Blue.

Star Trek: Warlord

Episode: "Warlord"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 3, Episode 10

Original Air Date: November 20, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Our heroes rescue three injured beings from a ship moments before it explodes.  They seem grateful - at first.  One of them is possessed by a malevolent entity who takes mental possession of Kes just before his current host dies.  Possessed Kes and her two new friends steal a shuttle and return to their own world, intent on overthrowing its current ruler.

"Warlord" is a good Kes episode.  Jennifer Lien gets to show off some range as Tieran, the entity possessing her, is quite ruthless in pursuing his ambitions.  We nearly get an on-screen same-sex kiss between Kes and Nori, Tieran's wife, before they're rudely interrupted.  More importantly to the long term, Kes breaks up with Neelix.  At first, it seems like she's only doing it because she's possessed.  That would definitely have been disappointing as Neelix is undeniably a controlling, possessive boyfriend and Kes's desire for breathing room is completely understandable.  But, in fact, this is it.  They never will get back together after this episode.

Unfortunately, we're running out of time with Kes.  Jennifer Lien left the show near the beginning of Season 4.  I'll discuss the particulars when we get to that point.  But having the benefit of knowing what's coming, I'm inclined to appreciate the character all the more while we still have her.  With "Warlord," we see Kes finally coming into her own.  She can be more than Neelix's adoring girlfriend or The Doctor's eager assistant or everyone's empathetic pal.  Just as she's finally being given room to grow, we must prepare to say goodbye.

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Leigh J. McCloskey (Tieran) was born in Los Angeles, June 21, 1955.  "Warlord" is his first of two Trek appearances.

McCloskey is unusual for the people I have featured in this space in that he is likely more accomplished as a visual artist than as an actor.  His ongoing work The Heiroglyph of the Human Soul is a hand-painted library installation in his own home.

That said, the screen resume is nothing to sneeze at.  He found particular success in soap operas: 248 appearances on Santa Barbara, 46 on Dallas and 32 on The Young and the Restless.  Films include Inferno and Just One of the Guys.

Squid Flicks: A Master Builder

Title: A Master Builder

Director: Jonathan Demme

Original Release Date: November 11, 2013

My Overall Rating: 3 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

Halvard Solness, an accomplished architect, is dying.  His doctor pays a visit, as do his former rival, that rival's son/Halvard's assistant and the assistant's fiancée/Halvard's bookkeeper and mistress.  Follow all that?  It's not even the most twisted part of the story.  Halvard is also visited by a young woman, Hilde, who remembers Halvard from her childhood.  Though she's not seen Halvard in 10 years, she's clearly in love with him.  The screenplay is Wallace Shawn's adaptation of Ibsen's play The Master Builder.

Halvard (Shawn) is a terrible person.  His wife Aline is fully aware of his philandering as he makes minimal effort to conceal it.  He destroyed his rival professionally and is deliberately holding his own protégé back.  The fact that he once made advances on 12-year-old Hilde would be disgusting in any context.  All that aside...

It's an absorbing story even with a thoroughly detestable protagonist and the fact there's very little action.  The entire film is shot in the one house - maybe three rooms? - which helps support the stage-play-on-screen feel.  The acting is strong.  Shawn is always good.  Julie Hagerty hits all the right buttons as Aline and Andre Gregory plays the former rival, Knut, in a My Dinner with Andre reunion.  Honestly, it feels a bit like the earlier film - more characters but nonetheless a complete narrative told in conversation.

Lisa Joyce steals the show as Hilde - a bright ray of sunshine, yet clearly on the edge of madness.  She more than holds her own in her scenes with both Shawn and Hagerty.  

Overall, it's okay.  The basic elements are strong and I certainly admire the simplicity.  But I don't see myself ever watching it again.

Star Trek: Let He Who Is Without Sin

Episode: "Let He Who Is Without Sin"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 7

Original Air Date: November 11, 1996

via Explaining Errors in Star Trek Wiki

Dax, Worf, Leeta, Bashir and Quark are off to Risa for a vacation.  Actually, it was supposed to be a romantic getaway for the newly involved Dax and Worf but the others tagged along for their own reasons.  Worf gets distracted by a radical fundamentalist group who take exception to Risa's decadence.  It seems he'd rather spend his time with them than with Dax.  

Dax.  Terry Ferrell.  One of the most statuesque women on 1990s television.  Oh, and she's smart and witty, too.  And she's in love with you.  Seriously?  You'd rather hang with the political wackos?

So I've finally come to a DS9 episode I don't like very much.  It's too bad because the idea had potential.  The writers wanted a show about sex but then the network made them tone it down.  Even so, there was plenty of space for something meaningful here.  Worf and Dax have different expectations of each other and of their new relationship.  That's a real world problem.  Frankly, a lot of couples don't survive it or they're miserable for years or both.  Without question, it's an issue worthy of narrative attention.  

But the writers couldn't make the pivot once they couldn't have the full-on sleaze fest they wanted.  My guess is they all had plenty of experience with lusting after scantily clad women but not so much successfully working through difficult relationship issues.  Yup, I'm being judgmental and catty.  So be it.  And Worf's childhood trauma tale about a soccer game to explain it all away?  What a load of garbage!

And the Leeta-Bashir story is downright vomit-inducing.  They're that cute college couple who can't keep their hands off each other and desperately need the rest of the world to know it.  There is one good long-term benefit from that thread: Leeta proclaims her love for Rom.  The Rom story just keeps getting better.

Mind you, I'm not exactly complaining about the beautiful women.  Beyond Farrell and Chase Masterson (Leeta), the screen is graced by Zora DeHorter and Blair Volk (Quark's Risian companions) and former Miss America, Vanessa Williams.

The episode title comes from the Book of John, chapter 8, verse 7: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Williams played the role of Arandis, a former lover of Curzon Dax and the current chief facilitator of the Temtibi Lagoon on Risa.  Williams was born in The Bronx, March 18, 1963.  She went to Syracuse for college.

Vanessa Williams rose to fame when she was crowned Miss America 1984, the first African-American to win the competition.  Sadly, she had to resign when Penthouse published unauthorized nudes.  Let's be clear: other people took advantage of her fame and she suffered the consequences.  In 2016, Williams received a public apology for the scandal at that year's Miss America pageant.

Back in the '80s, Williams certainly made the best of the situation, turning to the music and acting industries, finding great success in both.  Overall, she has released nine studio albums, one live album and four compilations.  She's had four top ten singles including a #1: "Save the Best for Last."  Her Broadway acting credits include Kiss of the Spider Woman, Into the Woods and The Trip to Bountiful.  Television work includes principal roles on both Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives.  Films include Soul Food, My Brother and Eraser.  Awards include seven NAACP Image Awards, four Satellite Awards, 11 Grammy nominations, 3 Emmy nominations and a Tony nomination.

As if that weren't enough, she has also published two books: You Have No Idea, a memoir co-authored with her mother, Helen Williams, and a children's book entitled Bubble Kisses.

Star Trek: Future's End

Episode: "Future's End"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 3, Episode 8

Original Air Date: November 6, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Voyager encounters Captain Braxton, a time traveler from the 29th century.  In fact, Braxton, formerly of the Starfleet Temporal Integrity Commission, is trying to destroy the ship in order to avoid the role it is to play in a temporal explosion in his own time.  Man, it's like he's never read a Greek tragedy...

Anyway, both Voyager and Braxton's ship get pulled into the gravitational field from which Braxton came.  It throws them all the way to Earth.  Great news, right?  Except that it's Earth in 1996.  

Star Trek returning to "present day" is well-tread territory for the franchise.  Prior to "Future's End," it had been done in TOS's "Assignment: Earth" and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.  There are other stories involving Earth's past but to this point these were the only ones that pinpointed the current time of production.  There is something funny about watching our heroes navigate the, for them, inconveniences of the 20th century.  How handy that because of his hobbies, Tom Paris already knows how to drive a car.

Our villain is Henry Starling.  In 1967, Starling discovered Braxton's crashed ship and has been mining its technology to build his own corporate empire ever since.  The story asserts that this chance encounter accelerated Earth's computer advances at a much greater rate than should have been.  In their effort to set the timeline right, our heroes have to mess with Starling's plans.  He's none too happy about it.

Part 2 in two weeks...

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

Ed Begley Jr. played Henry Starling.  Begley was born in Los Angeles, September 16, 1949.  His father, Ed Begley Sr., was an Oscar-winning actor himself.  He attended Los Angeles Valley College.

Ed Jr.'s resume is lengthy with literally hundreds of professional credits.  Films include An Officer and a Gentleman, The Accidental Tourist and Batman Forever.  His portrayal of Dr. Victor Ehlrich on St. Elsewhere earned him six consecutive Emmy nominations.  Recurring television credits include Better Call Saul, Young Sheldon and Arrested Development.

Ed Begley, Jr. is the most outspoken environmentalist in Hollywood.  In particular, he is closely associated with electric vehicles.  He and his wife Rachelle Carlson co-hosted a green living show called Living with Ed for three years.

Star Trek: Trials and Tribble-ations

Episode: "Trials and Tribble-ations"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 6

Original Air Date: November 4, 1996

via Wikipedia

Our heroes go back in time to Kirk's Enterprise in order to prevent an attempted assassination on old James T.  Captain Sisko, Dax, Bashir and O'Brien all don the old uniforms and wander about a set we all know and love.  Meanwhile, Odo and Worf hang out at a space station bar to learn what they can about the scheme.

For the nostalgia nerds - and I proudly count myself as one - there is no more satisfying episode than "Trials and Tribbile-ations."  Using Zemekis-style special effects, the DS9 characters were edited seamlessly into the action from TOS's classic "The Trouble with Tribbles."  Kirk's and Spock's first appearance is a genuine wow moment for audience and characters alike.  O'Brien being interrogated with Scotty and the others after a bar brawl is serious fun as are the revelations from Dax regarding a sexual past with Doctor McCoy.  Overall, the story's awfully goofy - even compared to the original.  But the bells and whistles more than make up for any narrative shortcomings.  

Without a doubt, it's one of DS9's best.

LEGO

One of the gift sets included with our Enterprise-D order was a Hot Chocolate Stand...

The completed set

Obviously, there are Star Trek possibilities here...

Alaskan Will Riker takes Deanna Troi for a ski date on the holodeck.  The Child offered an explanation for the mis-colored hands: yellow gloves.

Worf is invited and, of course, he shows up in full uniform.

Poor Wesley is upset he wasn't invited, too.

Acting Notes

DS9 appearance via Memory Alpha 

Charlie Brill played the role of Arne Darvin - a Klingon spy disguised as a human - in both the TOS and DS9 eras.  Darvin is, in fact, the catalyst for sending Sisko and friends back in time to begin with.  Brill was born in Brooklyn, January 13, 1938.  In an astonishing coincidence, he and his wife Mitzi McCall happened to be dining in the same restaurant as show runner Ira Steven Behr and a couple of writers when the latter group were discussing the casting of the episode.

Original series appearance via Memory Alpha

In addition to being married, Brill and McCall were a long-running comedy team, appearing on such programs as The Ed Sullivan Show and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.  They were on Sullivan the same night the Beatles made their world-altering debut in 1964.  The two were also on the long-running crime drama series Silk Stalkings.  In all, they were married for 64 years until her death in 2024.

Brill's films include The Beast of Budapest, Blackbeard's Ghost and The Amazing Dobermans.

Star Trek: Sacred Ground

Episode: "Sacred Ground"

Series: Star Trek: Voyager

Season 3, Episode 7

Original Air Date: October 30, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Granted shore leave on the Nechani homeworld, a few of the crew indulge in a guided tour of religious sites.  Curious Kes wanders into a cavern where she gets too close to what sure looks like a glowing sacred shrine.  It zaps her.  She is dying.  She and Neelix are beamed directly to sick bay on Voyager.  While the Doctor searches for medical solutions, Janeway and Company press the Nechani for answers.  The Nechani are plenty friendly and apologetic but unfortunately, they don't know how to help Kes either.  Perhaps the monks can help...

"Sacred Ground" starts off on the wrong foot for me.  Sadly, this sort of thing happens in the real world all the time: well-meaning but stupid travelers wander somewhere they're not supposed to, experience terrible mishap, then demand the locals fix it.  Let's not mince words, either.  It's typically white travelers treating the non-white world as their playground, shocked when they have to pay the price for ignoring very sensible warnings from the locals.  At best, it's obnoxious.  At worst, it's colonialist.  As such, I have little sympathy for the Voyager crew in their initial reaction to the predicament.  Sorry, but Kes should have known better.  Her stupidity or, more kindly, naïveté is not the Nechani's fault.

Fortunately, I felt better by the time the real point of the story became clear.  "Sacred Ground" is all about getting over yourself and accepting the fact that not all understanding comes from rational thought.  The episode gets mixed reviews, some saying it's among Voyager's worst.  Others are more charitable.  Despite my early annoyance, I'm inclined towards the latter.

At first, Janeway is all confidence and swagger: no problem, I'll knock out whatever silly tasks they have for me right after I finish my ninth cup of coffee.  But when doing that doesn't get her what she wants, she has to reconsider her own approach.  She must accept that science can't solve everything.  The answer she seeks is in the spiritual world.  She must take a leap of faith.

Yes, there's ultimately a scientific answer but that's not the deeper message here.  I'll admit to being science-first myself but we all know there are plenty of questions in the universe that have yet to be answered by empirical evidence and never will be.  Furthermore, humility often offers a path forward which the arrogant never find.

One more thing: frequent visitors may have noticed that I am always on the look out for connections between Star Trek and Star Wars.  Janeway's initial encounter with her guide was quite similar to Luke's introduction to Yoda, even involving fussing over a light fixture.  Of course, the trope of mistaking a sage - or even God - for an annoying commoner predates both franchises by thousands of years.  Grimm's fairy tales, for instance, offer numerous examples.  

Worth noting, Janeway's default attitude towards someone she did not at first consider worthy of her time did little to endear me to the story in its early stages.

LEGO

Our family Christmas present this year was LEGO's new USS Enterprise NCC 1701-D set along with the free accompanying Shuttlecraft set.  The big set is 3600 pieces and it took us several days.  In total, the two sets include ten NextGen characters - eleven if you count Data's cat, Spot.

Riker's trombone marks the first time the instrument has been included in any LEGO set.

The Enterprise-D crew

Data and Spot

The completed project

Ensign Ro and her shuttlecraft

An away mission to a planet with giant birds

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Becky Ann Baker played the role of Janeway's guide.  Baker was born in Fort Knox, Kentucky, February 17, 1953.  She graduated from Western Kentucky University.

For the more fortunate of my generation at least, Becky Ann Baker is probably best remembered as Jean Weir, mother to Lindsay and Sam, on Freaks and Geeks.  I say fortunate because despite only running for 18 episodes, F&G is considered by quite a lot of us to be one of the best shows in the history of television.  Seriously, do yourself a favor and go watch it now.  Imagine John Hughes movies, only better.  In the United States, it's available on several streaming services, including kanopy which you may be able to access for free through your local library.  Binge it all.  You'll thank me later.

Fortunately, several of the people involved, including producer Judd Apatow and actors Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Seth Rogan and Jason Segel went on to great success after the show was cancelled.  Getting back to Baker...

After F&G, Baker had a recurring role on Girls (also produced by Apatow) which earned her an Emmy nomination.  Guest appearances include L.A. Law, Frasier and Sex and the City.  Films include In & Out, Nights in Rodanthe and Hope Springs.

Squid Flicks: Citizen Kane

Title: Citizen Kane

Director: Orson Welles

Original Release: May 1, 1941

My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

Charles Foster Kane builds a newspaper empire, ultimately becoming one of the richest and most influential men in the world.  Then his life falls apart.  Truthfully, any plot synopsis falls short of conveying the sheer immensity of Citizen Kane.  Is it the greatest film ever made?  That's certainly a worthy debate though it comes as close to critical consensus as any.  I've only given it a 4, not because I deny its brilliance but because there are other movies I enjoy a lot more.  

Kane was Welles's first film after he'd taken the theatre world by storm.  He was given as close to total creative control as a major studio has ever given a first-time director, before or since.  He made the most of the opportunity.  He was only 25 years old.

I'd love to take a class on Kane.  It doesn't take long to recognize its uniqueness.  Other films simply don't look like this.  Cinematographer Gregg Toland literally invented camera shots, even carving new lenses.  It would be fun to go through shot by shot with someone who has studied it lovingly for years.  Kane is the Hamlet of film in that once you start looking for homages, you see them everywhere.  All the huge wooden crates in the mansion at the end of the movie... can't help thinking of the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.  

Amazingly, Kane flopped in its original release.  The story hit too close to home for William Randolph Hearst, one of several real-life inspirations for the protagonist.  Hearst forbade his newspapers from advertising or even mentioning the movie.  The impact on ticket sales was no joke.  Even so, quite a lot of critics fell in love with it and the movie was re-released in 1956 with much greater success.  It probably didn't hurt that Hearst had passed away in 1951.

Squid Eats: The Wise Fool

More and more Middle Eastern food options are popping up in northwest Vermont and that is a delightful development.  This weekend we visited The Wise Fool in Burlington, open to dine-in service since October.  Business seems to be good.  We walked in just before they officially opened at 5 and the space filled quickly.  We sat at the bar where one can get full service.  

I ordered a steak skewer special.  Wife and child shared a Fattoush Salad, a Fatayer with beef and the spicy Mixed Pickles, which they also generously shared with me.  I thought everything was lovely.  The kid also got a Mejadrah which they pronounced beautifully (just finished their third semester of college Arabic) but otherwise didn't care for - too bland, they said.

Only one beer on tap: Peroni, an Italian lager I feel like I'm suddenly seeing everywhere.  Otherwise, there are plenty of options: beers in cans and bottles, multiple wine offerings, plenty of cocktails and some off-beat non-alcoholic choices.  Service was friendly.  Two big screens over the bar.  One was playing Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

We'll definitely be back.  It's great to have pre-concert or movie options on the way into Burlington and The Wise Fool seems likely to feature in our outings.  

via The Wise Fool

The name comes from Goha, a beloved character from Middle Eastern folk tales.

Star Trek: ...Nor the Battle to the Strong

Episode: "...Nor the Battle to the Strong"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 4

Original Air Date: October 21, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Jake Sisco tags along with Dr. Bashir to a medical conference, hoping to find an interesting story to write about.  Instead, the story finds him.  During the return journey, they receive a distress call from Ajilon Prime where a Federation colony is under attack by the Klingons.  Reluctantly, in light of the danger he would be putting Jake in, Bashir heads down to help the medical staff.  In what feels more like a M*A*S*H battalion aid station episode than Star Trek, Jake gets far more material than he bargained for.

Was it not just a couple episodes ago that I wrote about DS9's frankness regarding the horrors of war?  "...Nor the Battle to the Strong" is the roughest, most intimate example.  The writers drew heavily from literary classics: Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage, Erich Maria Remarch's All Quiet on the Western Front and, most extensively, Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.  The episode title comes from Ecclesiastes 9:11.

It's worth nothing that at this late stage of the series, Jake Sisko, who because of child labor limitations has had by far the least material among the principals, is the central character for two of of the best episodes so far: this one and "The Visitor."  While Tony Todd did most of the heavy lifting in the earlier story, it's all on 18-year old Cedric Lofton this time.  It represents a major step forward for the character, too.  Most Jake stories - even "The Visitor" - had been framed within the context of his relationship with his father.  This time, he's a young man out on his own - a very young man.  

18.  In 2026, we still send 18-year-olds to the battlefield as professional soldiers.  All of the fear, confusion and guilt we watch Jake endure would be perfectly understandable for someone twice his age, particularly for one with zero previous military or medical training.  I and most of the people who are likely to read this have only ever experienced or even considered war from a great distance and thank goodness for that.  I expect the same is true for most Star Trek fans.  

Though other stories have had hints, no Trek episode has ever come anywhere near war with comparable personal intensity either before or, honestly, since.  Yes, there has been death, pain, injury and recovery.  But nothing like this.  It was a one-shot deal and for my money, they did it right.

Food Notes

There isn't much levity in "...Nor the Battle to the Strong" but we do get a little in the beginning of Act One as Quark makes an attempt at creating a decaffeinated raktajino:

Acting Notes

via Criminal Minds Wiki

Andrew Kavovit played the role of Kirby, an orderly at the battlefield hospital.  Kavovit was born in the Bronx, July 19, 1971.  He was only 25 himself and a young-looking 25 at that.  The script called for an actor not much older than Jake, a more worldly-wise mirror for our naïve hero.  

Kavovit was a genuine soap opera star, playing Paul Ryan on As the World Turns from 1986-91, winning a Daytime Emmy in 1990.  He also had a principal role on The Magnificent Seven TV series.  Guest appearances include Full House, My So-Called Life and Married... with Children.

Star Trek: Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places

Episode: "Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 3

Original Air Date: October 14, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Grilka, Quark's Klingon ex-wife, arrives on the station.  Quark wants to sleep with her.  Worf is deeply impressed by her, too, but alas his family dishonor puts him out of the running.  Instead, he agrees to help Quark woo her.  Meanwhile, Miles and Kira, the live-in surrogate mother of his child, are growing too close for comfort.

Star Trek can get pretty heavy.  Every once in a while, we need a story that's just flat out funny.  L4piAtWP delivers.  The story is a Cyrano de Bergerac send up.  The exploration of Klingon mating rituals alone is worth the price of admission.  And the Cyrano character (Worf) gets the girl.  But it's a different girl from the one he initially had in mind.  Dax seduces him, the beginning of an important DS9 romance.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

On top of everything else, we get the return of an original series guest star: Joseph Ruskin.  This time, he is Tumek, Grilka's advisor, his second appearance in the role.  In TOS's "The Gamesters of Treskelion," he was Galt.  Overall, Ruskin had six different Trek roles over four different series and a movie.

Ruskin was born Joseph Richard Schlafman in Haverhill, Massachusetts, April 14, 1924.  He served in the Navy before studying at Carnegie Mellon.  Other television appearances include Mission: Impossible, The Twilight Zone and Hogan's Heroes.  Films include The Magnificent Seven, Prizzi's Honor and Indecent Proposal.  

Raskin was on the board of the Screen Actors Guild for 23 years.  He passed away in 2013.  

Star Trek: The Ship

Episode: "The Ship"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 2

Original Air Date: October 6, 1996

via Memory Alpha

During a planetary survey, the away team (including Sisko, Dax, O'Brien and Worf) observe a Jem'Hadar ship crash-landing on the surface.  They move quickly to investigate, eager to learn about its technology.  Not surprisingly, a Vorta arrives soon after with her own Jem'Hadar detail.  Tensions mount quickly.  The Jem'Hadar clearly have the upper hand yet they are unwilling to simply destroy the ship and its current Starfleet occupants, the obvious tactical move.  Clearly, there is something aboard of great value.  But what?

Hot damn, is this one good!  

As ever, both writing and acting are outstanding.  The tension that builds between the principals is 100% believable.  The plot twist, while not Keyser Soze-level, is dazzlingly executed.  There are wonderful Trekkie treats.  Kilana (the Vorta) is one of many narrative descendants of Joanne Linville's Romulan Commander character in TOS's "The Enterprise Incident."  My favorite part is the character Crewman Muniz, introduced as a buddy to O'Brien only to be killed off.  He's a "red shirt" with a name.  In the denouement, Sisko mourns all of the crew members lost on the mission - by name.  Some of the writers felt they could have - should have - made more of the Muniz tale.  Maybe they're right.  But even as it is, it's a big deal and it signals an important shift, leading Star Trek boldly into new territory.

"The Ship" is one of many stories in DS9's run that sit with the realities of war in a way Trek never had before.  The pattern had always been to fix an "alien" world's problems, then run away to next week's episode.  Because DS9 "stays in one place," our heroes have to sit in the stew.  The writers make them.  Pain, death, hopelessness: they're all real.  The episodes embracing this theme are some of the most important and memorable of the series.

Watching DS9 and Voyager simultaneously is revealing.  I usually write of the comparisons from Voyager's perspective but this is an important place to view from DS9's.  The Voyager episode I had watched most recently before this one was "Flashback," considered by many to be one of that series's strongest.  It's a mess.  Sure, there are fun moments, especially the original series cameos.  But important plot details are clumsily discarded by the end.

Meanwhile, everything in "The Ship" matters - every relationship, every line of dialogue, every camera shot, every detail.  What's funny is that neither my child nor I even properly remembered it from our first family binge during COVID lockdown.  There are no important long-term reveals.  It's just rock solid storytelling.  By Season 5, we've come to expect nothing less.

Acting Notes

via Memory Alpha

Kaitlin Hopkins (Kilana) was born February 1, 1964 in New York City.  "The Ship" is her first of two Trek appearances.  Both of her parents were very successful in show business.  Mother Shirley Knight was a Tony- and Emmy-winning actress.  Father Gene Persson co-produced and co-created You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and its 1999 revival, winning two Tonys himself.  

Hopkins attended Carnegie Mellon University.  Beyond Trek, she had a regular role on Another World and guest appearances on Beverly Hills, 90210, Murder, She Wrote and The Practice among others.  Presently, she is the Head of Musical Theatre at Texas State University.

Star Trek: Apocalypse Rising

Episode: "Apocalypse Rising"

Series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Season 5, Episode 1

September 30, 1996

via Memory Alpha

Season 4 ended with a cliffhanger: Odo believes Gowron, Chancellor of the Klingon Empire, is a Changeling.  As Season 5 begins, Sisko leads O'Brien, Odo and Worf on an undercover mission - all disguised as Klingons - to expose Gowron in hopes of preventing war.  

"Apocalypse Rising" is fun for many reasons.  The basic political intrigue story is excellent with plenty of insight into Klingon warrior culture provided.  Michael Dorn was delighted to watch his colleagues suffer through the Klingon makeup process (though Rene Auberjonois claimed he preferred it to the Odo makeup).  Perhaps most importantly for the long term, the story introduces Martok, yet another stellar recurring character who will bring plenty of value to the operation over the next three seasons.

Evidently, the Paramount people didn't like the Klingon War storyline and encouraged the DS9 creatives to get back to the Dominion War they preferred.  "Apocalypse Rising" provides the transition from one to the other.

There's a wonderful exchange between Kira and Bashir in which she blames him for her surrogate pregnancy with the O'Brien's baby.  It's an in-joke, you see.  Nana Visitor was, in fact, pregnant with Alexander Seddig's child.

Acting Notes

via Wikipedia

John German (J.G.) Hertzler (Martok) was born in Savannah, Georgia, March 18, 1950.  He was an Air Force brat and therefore moved a lot as a child: Missouri, Texas, Morocco and mostly the Washington, DC area.  He went to Bucknell as an undergrad where he played football and discovered theater.  Later he got a Master's at the University of Maryland in set design.  He worked for the Nixon Administration for a time in the National Environmental Policy Act.

Hertzler has extensive stage credentials in DC, San Francisco and New York.  Early films include The Redeemer: Son of Satan and And Justice for All.  Television guest appearances include Quantum Leap, Six Feet Under and Roswell.  He was a regular on the early '90s Zorro series.  

Hertzler will likely always be best remembered as Martok, who, in one guise or another, accounts for 26 of his Trek appearances.  In total, he made appearances as twelve different characters over four different series.  He has also written two Star Trek novels: The Left Hand of Destiny, Books One and Two.  

The environmental cause has proven to be a lifelong passion.  Largely on the strength of a pro-environment platform, Hertzler won election to the town council in Ulysses, New York.  In 2016, he endorsed Bernie Sanders for President.  In 2018, Hertzler ran for Congress but ultimately withdrew before the election.