Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 68

Star Trek: Picard 2.2: Q and Borg

Star Trek: Picard 2.2 was dominated by two very different villains: Q and the Borg Queen.

Q, as ever, is a combination of witty, philosophically savvy talk, and seemingly effortless fundamental reality-shifting alterations. He irritates, frustrates, enrages Picard, who starts out, in these encounters, being Q's pawn or victim, thrust into an alternate reality not of Picard's making or liking, yet figuring out a way to get back to where he belongs, sooner or later. At this point in the second season, we're just at the first phase of that two-part process.

And the most frightening part of that first phase is the presence of the Borg Queen. I've always seen the Borg as the most frightening entity we humans have ever encountered in the universe. Picard was a centerpiece of their destruction. He still hasn't totally recovered from his experience of being assimilated by them, and likely never will. He certainly doesn't want another interaction with them, which raises the question of why Q would place him in this position in the new reality Picard now inhabits.

Which brings the whole second season, at this point just two episodes in, back to Q and his inscrutable motives. Best case scenario is Q is deploying Picard to destroy the Borg totally, once and forever, or if not that, neutralizing them so can't do any damage, in any form. Of course, this raises the question of why doesn't Q -- or someone else on the Q Continuum -- take care of that him or herself? And that, in turn, returns us to the question of who or what exactly Q is.

Such questions are fine by me -- I'm glad Q is already more than a cameo in this season -- and I'll see you back here next week with my review of episode 2.3.

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Published on March 13, 2022 11:01

Podcast Review of Severance 1.5

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 260, in which I review Severance episode 1.5 on Apple TV+.

Written blog post review of Severance 1.5

podcast reviews of Severance: 1.1-1.2... 1.3... 1.4

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Published on March 12, 2022 11:16

Severance 1.5: Second Lives

So, I said in my review of Severance 1.4 last week that, in the metaphysics of life and death in television series, if you don't see a character's head literally severed or blown to bits, that character might survive whatever the grievous injury. And--

[Spoilers ahead ...]

Sure, enough, in episode 1.5 of Severance on Apple TV+ yesterday, Mark comes to the rescue and takes Helly down from that noose before it kills her. We later learn that when she came to, she was in her outie form, an interesting detail that may have some significance sometime later in this unusual narrative. At very least, it confirmed what we already knew, that her outie form was the entity that she really is. I'll also say I'm glad that Helly survived, she's an important, pivotal character -- both in her own right, and as the innie Mark is the closest to, has the most commitment to.

Otherwise, there was not much of transcendent importance that happened in this episode. It ends with Irving's team meeting Burt's team, which is supposed to be a big deal, but I'm not 100% sure why. Are the innies on the way to organizing some kind of union? That would indeed be interesting and important.

Meanwhile, I'd like to see more about Harmony and her relationship with the higher-ups at Lumon. She's clearly beholden to the "board," but she also clearly has a certain independence of mind and action -- certainly a lot more than the innies on Mark's and slightly higher levels. Dylan also has a lot more story in him. It occurred to me that his obvious constant sarcasm and rebelliousness could be a mask for him really being a company operative. That would explain why he seems to be getting away with his comments and attitude.

As I keep saying, Severance is one of most unusual and therefore memorable science fiction series to get on the screen in years -- the very different Counterpart would be the most recent example that comes to mind -- and I'm looking forward to more.

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Published on March 12, 2022 10:20

Podcast Review of Suspicion 1.7

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 259, in which I review Suspicion episode 1.7 on Apple TV+.

Written blog post review of Suspicion 1.7

Podcast reviews of Suspicion 1.1-1.3... Suspicion 1.4 ... Suspicion 1.5... Suspicion 1.6

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Published on March 11, 2022 18:37

Suspicion 1.7: The Mystery Continues

Another excellent episode -- 1.7 -- of Suspicion, which is still managing to keep us in the dark about who kidnapped Leo. That's an impressive accomplishment, after seven episodes.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

The big development happens at the very end of this episode, when Natalie puts a bullet in Martin, which presumably ends the chance of his series-upending reveal. She's still understandably aggrieved about the murder of her sister, and shoots Martin because he says he didn't mean for anyone to die in that interaction that killed Natalie's sister. Yes, totally understandably, and it serves the crucial purpose of keeping us in suspense about who the ultimate villain is in this compelling mystery.

Before then, we learn in detail that climate change -- or the failure to do anything about it -- is what the kidnappers have against Katherine. Eric Cresswell wrote a report in the 1990s that warned about it, but Katherine had a role in suppressing it. This is interesting, but of course still doesn't tell us who did the kidnapping.

And it continues to look like none of the suspects did it. Next week, if IMDb's information is correct, is the eighth and final episode. There's still no word if the series is being renewed. It would be wild, wouldn't it, if we still don't find out who did the kidnapping next week. There's been an increasing tendency, over the years, for television series not to keep viewers hanging on too long for the resolution of its fictional mysteries. I'm about split, 50/50, on whether I'd like to get an answer on Apple TV+ next week.

See you back here then with my review.

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Published on March 11, 2022 16:21

The Tourist: Try It, You'll Really Like It

So I was on HBO Max watching Raised by Wolves and I saw a few ads for The Tourist, and I gave it a shot, and I'm glad I did! How's that for a non-spoiler review?

But here's a little more, with some spoilers.

A man is run off the road by a truck in the Australian outback and wakes up in a hospital having no idea who he is. That's a fairly standard beginning, harkening back at least as far as Coronet Blue, one of my all-time favorite summer replacement CBS shows with a short number of episodes because the series was never finished. The Tourist also has a short number of episodes -- six -- and though the mini-series concludes, there's more than enough room for another season or two.

The main character other than the amnesiac is Probationary Constable Helen Chambers. That's barely police, but Helen has a keen sense of justice and morality, and is played perfectly by Danielle Macdonald. Helen is a little overweight, and engaged to a psychologically abusive guy who's even more overweight, but is driving Helen crazy to lose weight and has open contempt for her job. Helen is attractive, inside and outside, and it's no surprise that the amnesiac becomes increasingly attracted to her.

The other police are crooked or barely competent. The amnesiac (well played by Jamie Dornan) has a prior girlfriend with plenty of spunk, great lines, and names, Luci, Victoria, etc, also well played by Shalom Brune-Franklin. The action is nonstop, with major surprises in just about every episode.

Some of the characters are almost unbelievably hard to kill, but that's ok. The amnesiac's status is not clear at the end. But going by my standard that unless you see the character's head severed or blown to bits there's a always a chance he or she can live to show up in a second season. Which, as I said, I really hope to see. Harry Williams and Jack Williams, please write it.

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Published on March 10, 2022 21:02

Podcast Review of Raised by Wolves 2.7

Welcome to Light On Light Through, Episode 258, in which I review Raised by Wolves episode 2.7 on HBO Max.

written blog post review of this episode

Further listening:

podcast review of Raised by Wolves 2.6

podcast review of Raised by Wolves 2.5

podcast review of Raised by Wolves 2.4

podcast review of Raised by Wolves 2.3

podcast review of Raised by Wolves 2.1-2.2

podcast review of Raised by Wolves 1-3

podcast review of Raised by Wolves 4-5

podcast review of Raised by Wolves 6-10

Raised by Wolves 2.7: Mothers and Babies

Probably the most the powerful episode -- 2.7 -- of Raised by Wolves up today on HBO Max. No, I'd say it is the most powerful. And its theme was mothers and babies. Which unfolded in three narratives.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

The less apocalyptic story was Tempest and her newborn. Last week, we saw it stolen by one of the acid-sea creatures. This week, we find out why: the sea creature was herself a new mother who had just lost her baby. When Tempest, Hunter, and Father confront the creature in a cave, she's nursing Tempest's baby. Father plans to kill it and take the baby back, but at the last minute Tempest says no. That moment says a lot about the monster/human dichotomy which animates (along with the android/human dichotomy) the entire series. Tempest realizes/senses that the monster is something more (or less or different) than a monster, if she could be nursing her baby. Father gets it, but Hunter doesn't, kills the monster/nursing mother, and takes back the baby -- which Tempest then rejects.

That scene, that story, would have been more than enough to be the centerpiece of this episode. But Raised by Wolves, not content with just one profundity, rolls out another. The flying serpent, which Mother gave birth to and tried to nurture, matures and eats the tree which Sue became or became part of last week. That tree went from a heartbeat to -- after being consumed by the flying serpent -- a Godzilla-level monster. Mother's lethal scream can't stop it -- in part because her maternal instinct likely reduced the strength of the scream, in part because ... who knows, including who knows the ratio of her maternal instant and the power of the mature serpent in accounting for why Mother's scream didn't work.

And there was a third mother/baby story, probably less profound than the other two, but still memorable and endearing. Vrill android, forsaken by her mother, determined to be part of the human community, does her best to help Campion evade the serpent. But, in the end, the girl android dies of wounds she sustains in the fight.

I'm looking forward to the second season finale next week. I know this penultimate episode will stay with me a long time.

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Published on March 10, 2022 15:50

Outlander 6.1: Ether That Won't Put You to Sleep

Outlander was back on Starz yesterday with the debut of its sixth season after a two-year wait. It was great to see our favorite characters back in action, but this wasn't the strongest episode in the series.

[Spoilers follow ...]

I thought the Intro took way too long to introduce Tom Christie. Also, it's a little lame to introduce an important new character in a flashback, this far into the series.

The single most interesting and at this point significant development is Claire's relationship with ether. It's a very valuable medical accomplishment, but Claire's taking it at the very end of the episode was suggestive of something more than medical interest. Were we seeing another scientific test, or is Claire becoming addicted to the substance? (Just a reminder that I haven't read the books, so all I know is what I see on the screen.) A little research reveals that ether can indeed be habit-forming, if not addictive (caffeine is habit forming, crack cocaine is addictive). If Claire is becoming dependent upon ether, that certainly bears watching and won't put us to sleep.

It was also good to see Claire and Jamie together, in all possible ways. The two continue to make a great couple. They've aged well together. In fact, they seem more comfortable in each other's arms and lives in this season than in any previous narrative.

As readers of my reviews of Outlander will recall, I've always been more interested in the time travel aspects of the story than the romance. Claire makes a few sage statements about time travel, but, otherwise, we saw none of it in this first episode of the new season. But there's plenty of time for that to be rectified, and I'm looking forward to more.