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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Subspace Rhapsody (2023)
No, JUST NO!
It was 50 years ago that Rice and Lloyd Webber developed the template for the contemporary musical and basically it has trundled along at first just in theatreland as dozens of retreads of those 1970's masterpieces were rolled out over subsequent decades and then it began to infect Theme Parks across the western world with its increasingly predictable happy clappy feel until there was pretty much nothing else in such places. However by the turn of the century such music was already becoming zombified. One tune sounded like another and one story merged into another as if all was one great musical gruel that faded quickly and unmemorably from the mind.
That is until Follywood in its clear desperation for something 'original' started making musicals for TV a few years back, none of which are worth recalling except perhaps 'Grease:The Rise Of The Pink Ladies' which beyond its inherent misandry is most worthy of recollection simply for its all around awfulness. So what on earth the Star Trek franchise was thinking when it indulged itself in this spectacle of sickly mush is beyond me? Any show that resorts to lyrics which include the word 'Paradigm' in the chorus of one of their songs deserves ridicule. How can it be taken seriously when its guilty of wanton self indulgence? Enough is enough!
And its such a shame because for the first time since the franchise dipped its toe back into TV, in Strange New Worlds Season 2, Star Trek were demonstrating they could still develop decent storylines; something which they struggled with in season one and which the always contrived 'Discovery' and always nostalgic 'Picard' had failed to do. This season of Strange New Worlds finally started suggesting there were still places 'to boldly go where no man had gone before'. However, a musical was not one of them and worse still they've killed off two of the most intriguing personal relationship stories in one foul swoop without even a dramatic whimper. To sink the Kirk / Na'an and Chapel / Spock relationships in such a non-descript episode was simply wrong. Its a dereliction of artistic and dramatic duty by the script writers. Shame on them even. It was so non-descript in fact that when Chapel dumped Spock in the middle of a song (I presume), it didn't even register with me, I was that disinterested.
That said every journey risks a wrong turn but I doubt Strange New Worlds can afford many more. I only hope the season finale reverts to the better story telling of the season prior to episode 9 rather than episode 9 demonstrating they've run out of decent ideas again because with Disney seemingly crippling the Marvel franchise and the CW doing the same to DC Comics, the Star Wars franchise aside there is very little worthwhile Sci-Fi being produced currently for TV.
NCIS: Los Angeles: Game of Drones (2022)
Game Of "Drones" Is About Right
Like the rest of the NCIS franchise LA has taken a nosedive since COVID began and the premier of the new season was no different. From being an edgy espionage thriller this is becoming yet another kitchen sink soap opera (or should that be dope opera) guilty of resorting to sanctimonious moralistic preaching to hide the hollow and uninspiring storylines. The script is pedestrian and superficial, the acting wooden and the characterizations stale and one dimensional. There is little chance of a spoilers because there is no story in this show worth spoiling anymore.
If anything it's desperately in need of the drama of killing off one of the main characters (and no not Hetty) but one of the 6 agents and the creation of a serious villain to actually challenge them and give us a break from Sam 'Wokerman' Hannah's (spandex optional) interminable proselytizing, the near endless hand-wringing of the now diminished Deeks and Blye and the increasingly infantile witterings of Namazi and Roundtree.
Its lost its humour, its excitement and its intrigue and replaced it with dull tedium and identity tokenism. Its hard to see how it can carry on. Even the Hetty and 'G' narratives have become prosaic.
Ultimately I fear the NCIS franchise as a whole is done at least for the time being. It needs a break to revitalise and reinvent itself because none of the current shows are much good anymore.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022)
As lifeless as Spock's demeanour
Yes the TOS outfits are there and yes there are familiar names in abundance but if the first two episodes are anything to go by then this series will be as disappointing as the first Star Trek film. Put simply both episodes were dull affairs and the thought of the Christopher Pike character and half his crew wringing their hands for however long this series continues over his predicted fate will inevitabily become mind numbingly tedious. As for the novice Uhura narrative, enormous yawn aside is just not credible. Either she's a genuine rookie (and is given little responsibility) or she isn't. Its a Starship not the local MacDonalds.
And whats with the endless close-ups of expressionless people's faces (well apart from the two females with permanent scowls on their visages that is).
The thing is when I start criticising the cinematography so early it says one thing. The story lines are weak and as much as it is nostalgic to go back to the atmosphere of TOS, and its simplistic one off episodes where the Enterprise ultimately wins the day, the simple reality is that after the sophistication of the later series of Next Gen, of DS9, of Voyager and to an extent Enterprise and not forgetting the host of powerful characters of those shows and of TOS. Star Trek has standards to maintain and they have yet to come close with any of the three recent series and this latest one so far could be the worst of the lot. Apart from the faithful representation of Spock none of the other characters stand out as becoming Sci-Fi icons not even those rebooted.
I always used to prefer the Star Trek franchise to the Star Wars franchise but over recent years its clear to me that the Mandalorian and its spinoffs rule with Star Trek lagging well behind. I'll keep watching coz its Star Trek but like so many recent CBS related series it leaves an awful lot to be desired. What is going on in Follywood?
COBRA (2020)
The unintentional if predictable ignorance of this Sky 'Drama' might have you rolling in the aisles
Having watched both series together its hard not to crack a smile in thinking back on this so called political drama which in typical Sky manner is so riddled with urban liberal myths and hackneyed cliches (not to mention a total ignorance of technology) it might better be described as a political propaganda broadcast for the liberal left.
All the hackneyed liberal left strawmen were there,
the 'nasty party' Tory allusions, the obsessions around identity, far right extremists around every corner (when left wing anarchists are probably a greater threat in modern Britiain), right wing corruption etc etc etc.
However the unintentionally hilarious highlight was the appearance of a convoy of Mods fully garbed in Parkas and Union Jack jackets to save Kent (by becoming message riders) when the digital network communications had been taken out (did nobody mention to the scriptwriters how quickly one can create a analogue shortwave radio network)?
Whilst I have nothing against Mods at all (I used to be one for a while in my youth), the whole episode was so contrived and utterly unnecessary that it made it abundantly clear that the writers clearly had zero technical understanding of the issues they were writing about nor indeed for that matter the capability of the UK's emergency services nor indeed what emergency response and contingency planning really entails.
All in all this is a delusional if unintentionally hilarious urban liberal fantasy that makes '24' seem realistic. It says something when Brentford is even more delusional than Follywood.
For all that the acting was reasonable but the narrative was a joke.
PS And just to correct the smear alluded to by the show's writers about Kent. In the real world Kent elected its first non white MP more than a decade ago.