OK, we're an episode away from the first season's finale in the UK, and I have to nail my colours to the mast and say I've thoroughly enjoyed the first season. So far it's nearly equalled DS9's first season, more consistent but without those moments of sheer genius ( Emissary, Duet, In the Hands of the Prophets). And for me to even think of comparing it to a show that still sends me into daft fanboy ecstacy is something indeed.
They really seem to have taken the best elements from DS9 and the original series (although it remains to be seen whether they have the guts to fuck with the franchise like they did with DS9). Aliens that are truly alien (Vox Sola). No freakin' anomaly of the week. The ever present Trek time-travel has been worked into the story as an ongoing arc, and one that's been very gently handled at that. It reminds me of DS9's first season, playfully episodic while doing a lot of work to establish arcs that will go on through out the series (which gives the writers a chance to find which elements work and which don't).
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I'm really looking forward to Shockwave. It seems to be the first major step in this series standing on its own two feet, with its Army of Darkness ending, Starfleet Headquarters in ruins nine hundred years into the future. I'm glad they've made Daniels a recurring character, as it seemed such a shame to kill him after such a great introduction (I'd like to see him become this series' Garak). And I want to know exactly what's left inside his locked quarters.
I've been very interested in how they've handled the Vulcans, and here again there are DS9 parallels. All other Trek series suffered from having one stock footage personality per alien race - DS9 gave us extremely well characterised Cardassians, Klingons and Bajorans, amongst others. Here we have T'Pol, a Vulcan who displays arrogance, humour, affection and vulnerability while maintaining her stony face throughout (Blalock is superb in the role). Soval has appeared too infrequently to judge, but the ambassador from a couple of weeks back was particularly intriguing, especially considering the Vulcan customs that the show has established. She seemed much more ready to take other races on their merits, to adapt to each new situation than most we've seen.
There are three ongoing arcs; the birth of the Federation; the tension between the Vulcans and the Andorians (yay Jeff Combs!); and the temporal cold war. None of these are even slightly resolved at the end of season one, and there are already rumours that some well known Trek characters may be appearing in season two. It's time to remove the question mark from the thread title. |
- I've heard a rumour it's Rod Stewart 'Faith of the Heart' Confirm/deny? Anyone?
