#Secret Enterprise Rewatch

[spockvarietyhour]

Hoshi knows exactly what's she doing and she's milking T'Pol on this for all she's worth

#Oh my me why would i be dreaming of Trip Tucker. who do I know had bulkhead shattering sex with him last year??! #Trust me Hoshi's gotten better at ship's gossip. If she could find out abt Reed's favourite cake.... #Star Trek Enterprise #Enterprise #Affliction #Affliction (episode) #T'Pol #Hoshi Sato #Secret Enterprise Rewatch

[inamindfarfaraway]

I rewatched “The Richest Duck in the World!” and noticed something new. It’s only a theory, but it could easily be true, and… oh my God.

Bradford Buzzard has been working with Scrooge for about two decades or more by this episode, right? He's the CEO of McDuck Enterprises. He can overule Scrooge on business decisions and has access to and knowledge of everything, including Falcon Island, the portion of money afforded to it and that it's used for magical defence. Scrooge took the time to remove that island from all maps because he was so desperate for nobody to ever be able to meddle there. This is as top-secret as it gets. But Bradford knows. Scrooge trusts him implicitly with ALL his money. That's a lot of trust!

So Bradford almost certainly knows about the Bombie. It's hard to imagine a conversation where Scrooge told him about Falcon Island and what resources it needed without telling him why it needed them; and never before this episode has the Bombie been released due to financial strain. Not even in Scrooge and his finances' lowest point, when he was blowing through savings to search for Della, resorting to draining the Money Bin, his personal store of sentimentally valuable coins. Not even with Bradford wanting more of McDuck Enterprises' money available so he can siphon it off for FOWL. There was always, always something less important than Falcon Island.

But then Louie - an inexperienced, physically weak and unskilled eleven-year-old - becomes the richest person on Earth. On his very first morning in this position, he has to compensate for his wasteful spending by taking money from the company and Bradford immediately suggests cutting funding to the Bombie's containment measures. That is the first thing he comes up with. And he agrees to it unhesitatingly without a word of warning. This is why the entire plot of the episode happens!

Even more dammingly, he has a button specifically to deactivate the magical security system on hand at that moment. Without it, the Bombie escapes in an instant. But how did such a button come to exist in the first place? Scrooge would never have asked for it. Nobody else knew anything about Falcon Island. Bradford must have made it and connected it to that magic himself. He saw that Louie was vulnerable and wasted no time engineering his fall, unleashing a lethal threat upon him that was, as far as anyone knew, absolutely unstoppable, yet in a manner indirect enough to deflect suspicion from him.

Bradford tried to murder Louie.

#and this is after killing duckworth and setting della up to get lost in space #damn #he knows how to hit scrooge where it hurts #like if you want a really angsty au. there you go #i think losing a) another younger family member who he was close to and b) one who was still a CHILD would just shatter scrooge #and louie and della had just made up and were preparing to strengthen their relationship #and now she loses her kid again but this time she knows him so she can grieve a person not just an idea #then they all find out that bradford is evil and it's vengeance time baby! #but also webby lena and violet figure out how to summon louie from the afterlife and he stays around as a ghost like duckworth #he's got 99 problems but needing to walk ain't one! #a lot of them are trauma responses though #bradford buzzard #louie duck #scrooge mcduck #bombie #the bombie #ducktales 2017 #ducktales #dt17

[weerd1]

ENT Rewatch Starlog,  19 February, 2024: Episode 3.13 “Proving Ground”

Andorian Commander Shran (YAY!) and his ship the Kumari are in the expanse seeking Enterprise while the Xindi are prepared to test Degra’s (the Humanoid Xindi scientist leading the weapon research) new prototype. Enterprise has picked up the signal they planted in the kemocite a few episodes back. They will however have to traverse a dangerous field of the Expanse’s subspace anomalies. They are caught in a large one and taking damage when someone tractors them out. Archer answers the hail from their rescuers to hear a familiar, “Hello, Pinkskin.”

Shran boards Enterprise and offers his crew to help. He mentions that they know about the Xindi attack on Earth, and how little the Vulcans have done to help; he cites T’Pol having to resign her commission to stay on the NX-01 as an example. He states that Andoria sees an opportunity here, and that he personally owes a debt of gratitude to Archer. He even offers up some Andorian ale.

As the Andorians help Enterprise, they begin to slowly win over an initially reluctant crew. Reed in particular is wary of sharing information on weapons with Andorian Lieutenant  Talas who is trying to help him. Slowly he warms to her, and they recognize they have a few things in common. Tucker asks Shran if they could have an Andorian intermix injector. Shran is reluctant to provide the item, as much as he understands Tucker wanting vengeance for what happened to his sister. Shran reveals he lost a brother in service to Andoria. Tucker tells him he’d love to get his hands on the Xindi responsible, but mostly, he just wants to make sure no one else dies from one of these weapons. Shran hands over the injector.

The two ships track down the signal and find a system that is full of debris, which they realize is a proving ground for the weapons. Four Xindi ships and a weapon sphere are there. Shran gathers scans with a ruse of pretending to be a member of the Andorian Mining Guild looking for “Archerite,” and they realize a test in imminent. Shran talks Archer into waiting to see the prototype at work rather than trying to destroy it. Archer says he wants to capture it.

Shran is contacted by an Andorian admiral, and it turns out they are not here to really help Enterprise, but have instead themselves been tasked with stealing the weapon to protect Andoria from the Vulcans. Shran is reluctant; he sees Humans as a possible ally, but the Admiral insists. This leads Shran to hatch a plan with Archer where the Kumari will grab the weapon. As they watch the weapon fire, they realize it is faulty; Archer is happy to see Gralik—the Xindi Arboreal who promised to help back when they put the tracker in the kemocite—has come through.

While Degra is trying to figure out what’s going on and drawing the ire of the other Xindi council, the Humans and Andorians attack, and while Archer has insisted on being on the Kumari, he is there when Shran begins to run with the weapon rather than give it to Enterprise.

Archer was a step ahead though, and Reed, despite the amicable relationship with Talas, has undone the sensor sabotage Shran had her do to cover their escape. When Shran leaves Archer in an escape pod, Enterprise picks up him quickly, but then also find and catch the Kumari. Archer reveals that Hoshi was able to glean the activation codes for the weapon during the melee, and it starts priming in the Andorian ship. Archer will not be responsible for Andoria having a weapon like this to use on the Vulcans. The Kumari drops the weapon, but is damaged in the resulting explosion; they refuse Enterprise’s offer to help. 

As the NX-01 resumes its mission, Hoshi notices that they received a secret transmission from the Kumari before parting ways; Shran has provided full scans of the weapon for Archer to send to Starfleet. Archer asks T’Pol if she and Trip would join him for dinner and some Andorian Ale.

Since I have only been reviewing season three, this is my first chance to absolutely gush about what Enterprise does with the Andorians. It certainly helps to have someone of Jeffery Combs’ talent in the role of Shran, but what a marvelous job they do with characterization, their overall arc from brutal enemies of Vulcan to founding member of the Federation, and the makeup, good LORD, the way the antenna convey mood is unmatched in any of the modern Treks. So glad the writers decided to take the time to figure out how to include the Andorians in the Xindi arc. 

Nice callbacks to previous episodes as well, particularly “The Shipment.” In the modern TV market, the four seemingly unrelated episodes between there and here would not be allowed to happen; indeed I remember beginning to suspect when this originally aired that they weren’t going to pick up on that story.  It’s a conundrum for me: As I look at say, the first season of Picard, I felt like they had too many episodes for their story, but the contiguous nature of the series required all episodes to tie to the main storyline, which for me personally was not enough story spread across too much time. Had there been some opportunities to play with a little more of what we would now call filler, I might have felt differently. I do praise Strange New Worlds for finding that balance well. 

Next Voyage: The Enterprise does literally get their hands on the man responsible for the weapon that attacked Earth in “Stratagem.” 

(Images taken from the main website for @trekcore; I am happy to remove the images if asked.)

#star trek #star trek enterprise #enterprise #enterprise rewatch #enterprise season 3 #xindi saga #proving ground #shran! #andorians

[trilobiter]

The other night I rewatched "The First Duty," along with some bonus features on the bluray, and there was a documentary suggesting that there was a real controversy in the writing room over what Wesley would or should do; tell the truth, or remain loyal to what his friends had agreed to say at the hearing. I couldn't help wondering what the story would have looked like if the other side in that argument had won out.

If you assume the basic facts remain the same - that Wesley and his squad attempted a prohibited Korvoold Starburst maneuver, got one of their squadmates killed, and entered a conspiracy of silence about the true cause of the accident - and that the events of the episode play out pretty much the same, then Wesley choosing to remain silent and rely on the hope that Picard couldn't prove what he knows about the Starburst would create serious problems for the narrative. It would destroy Wes's relationship with Picard, and consequently the Enterprise crew and maybe even his own mother. It would make Wes look like a coward, or else it would make Starfleet and Picard look like authoritarian bastards if the show chose to do the enormously heavy lifting of justifying Wes and his squadmates, and convincing the audience it is in fact the right thing to lie about how your friend died to avoid a harsher punishment.

However, the basic facts of the incident, and the turns the episode takes as it approaches Wes's ultimate choice, are as mutable as the choice itself. It would be possible to construct a story where the choice to remain silent is one that the audience, and even Picard, could come to respect. The story could have been written such that Picard never guesses what really happened, and Wes has to live with the secret. The story could have allowed Wes to convince the rest of the squad, or at least most of them, to come forward with him. There could be extenuating circumstances, there could be additional factors, that could have changed the calculus. We could have had a story about how omitting certain aspects of the truth for the sake of your friends can be the right choice. But I don't think it could have been with the background we were given.

The episode that exists puts Wes in a very harsh dilemma, and telling the whole truth is the only choice he can make that would preserve the audience's faith that he is, at core, a moral person. It is interesting to think about how those writers room debates settled into that story.

#trilobiter #star trek #star trek: the next generation #wesley crusher #jean-luc picard

[uss-birdbrain]

Hi there! As a fellow Star Trek obsessor and Doctor Who enjoyer, I have to ask: in what situation do you think the Doctor (can be any of their incarnations) would find themself on one of the main ships (or DS9)?

Bc to me, 11 holds enough chaos energy to show up on the Enterprise-D when Q arrives, but then switch to Disco with the time-loop shenanigans and then go straight to the Zindi Weapon incidents before turning back around to have a singsong with Pike's crew while helping O'Brien fix the stations many problems.

Ok so I have so many thoughts!!

So I actually don't think the doctor would be likely to show up during most of the like large Plot moments, only because he usually avoids fixed points, however, I think 10 had definitely visited the Bell Riots, both because it's a moment of large-scale chaos and because he probably got alerted to there being another time traveler in the area (like when he showed up during the London Blitz).

If we mean specifically on a ship, than I think 11 is definitely the only one brazen enough to show up on the enterprise, probably with Kirk's crew, and I think it would be one of those incidents that has to get ultra-classified because of all the potential ramifications of people knowing there's a time-traveller around despite the federation's laws.

Also, Section 31 is space UNIT, nobody can change my mind. I mean, secret quasi-governmental agency that deals with other species and time travel? UNIT just got a new name when the governments of the world became starfleet.

This was so fun to think about, especially because I'm rewatching 11's Era right now!

#star trek #doctor who

[biblioflyer]

Classism? In MY Star Trek? The Raffi Controversy, Picard Rewatch s1e3

Raffi's digs at Chateau Picard strike the ear as rather meta and ill fitted to the setting, but is there validity there? If so, how? If not, then what are we to make of these digs?

This is part of a series of essays reevaluating Star Trek Picard and interrogating the widely held fandom criticism that Picard made the Federation into a Dystopia.

Raffi will make snide remarks about Chateau Picard twice in this episode, once in the flashback and again in the present, fourteen years later comparing it to her “hovel.” Many a fan has bristled at these remarks. 

Isn’t the Federation, or least Earth, post scarcity? Isn’t acquisition and greed supposed to be beyond the average human? Shouldn’t Raffi be satisfied with her actually quite pleasant home in a remote area? I myself am rather envious, the view is magnificent and having that much space for just yourself seems incredible.

If you’re a longtime fan like I am, these comments don’t have the best brain feel. At face value they imply that materialism still exists in Federation society. They hint at the ongoing existence of social status drawn from possessions rather than affinity or merit. There are other references that also imply money may be a thing: Riker’s comment about Guinan “hawking” Enterprise models, Shaw’s reference to pay grades.

If you’re inclined to dislike the series for other reasons, the obvious explanation is that the writers are lazy and have accidentally or on purpose retconned a market economy back into the Federation because they can’t imagine an alternative that would be legible to the audience. It is looked upon as an unwelcome and immersion breaking intrusion of modern class politics into a setting that is supposed to be depicting a classless society.

I will accept that I may be wrong and am engaging in head canon, but I choose to interpret these references as largely symbolic or turns of phrase that are still in use out of linguistic habit rather than their literal meanings. Such as how “take a crap” is derived from the John Crapper toilet. Star Trek’s “warp speed” gave its name to a fast paced effort to develop a vaccine. Weird experiences are still compared to the Twilight Zone. 

I take Raffi’s comments as reflecting a much deeper wound relating to her sense of self worth and Chateau Picard is just a convenient symbol she can gesture at. It’s a convenient handle she can attach to the hyperobject that is her pain. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but people when they are angry often don’t lash out at the exact thing they’re angry about, they lash out at a symbol of it or something that was their breaking point.

Raffi may also just genuinely think it's unfair that an entire vineyard can be a family heirloom. She wouldn’t be the first person to scoff at this. Many a fan has asked uncomfortable questions about how this is fair in a supposedly classless society and through what social and legal structures is the Picard family afforded the privilege to pass the Chateau down generation to generation? 

Raffi is definitely a believer in the Federation’s values, in season two she will be harshly critical of 21st century LA and its inequality.

Perhaps she’s actually a bit of a radical even by Federation standards and does have a simmering issue with what she sees as a contradiction in the Federation that comes raging to the surface when she gets mad. Whereas I think there are arguments you can make that would answer some of the challenges presented by Chateau Picard in a decent enough way without having to reinvent class.

Finally, it bears repeating: hurt people hurt people. The way they lash out doesn’t always make sense because the point isn’t to make a coherent argument about the secret classes hiding within a supposedly classless society, it's to ensure everyone else knows that they’ve hurt you.

#star trek picard #star trek picard rewatch #picard s1e3 #the end is the beginning #star trek ethics #raffi musiker #star trek economics

[sourrind]

ocs as section 13? eyy similar hat, have had similar thoughts 🤝🤝🤝, though it’s more vincent n superion, probably adriel and/or reya as section 13 agents

would the ocs as section 13 include their shadiness/lowkey fucked up morals? maybe not necessarily for the ocs girlies that we know and love, but the wider organization of the ocs beyond the cats cradle covent?

regardless i am so 👀👀👀👀👀 over your au, kicking up the star trek hyperfix again and making me even more hyped for when school stuff dies down a bit and i can watch &/or rewatch star trek stuff

Okay, I have not really put any thought into the OCS / Section 13 thing. It just kind of seemed kind of a natural way to translate it with the OCS being a secret chapter of the Catholic Church that does all this very non-Church like this stuff. (This also goes along with the idea I had of Duretti being the typical "not-so-good" Admiral Star Trek is known for.

I guess the biggest thing is whether the OCS = Section 13 as a whole, or if just our group of OCS girlies happen to be in Section 13 or even some kind of separate cell of the organization.

With the ideas I had in mind, I guess it'd only make sense if the ship was operated as a normal ship like the Enterprise or Voyager and that only the Warrior Nun-specific characters would be part of Section 13. (all or some of them depending). That would allow fun stuff like the bar and Hans to be on the ship while also still enabling the dirty wetwork they would do.

I would definitely give them 100% on the shadiness, and fucked up morals depends on the character. They're all there to do in the dark what Starfleet's too afraid to do, so I wouldn't put it past most of them to do whatever they need to complete a mission (that is until Ava appears and throws a wrench into everyone's emotional stability).

I like that you brought up the Cat's Cradle because I have just been at a loss as to what use the name for. I was thinking maybe it's a term for endearment for the ship as opposed to its official name or maybe the name of Hans' bar. I'm almost settled on having it be a specific part of the Neutral Zone that the OCS tend to operate in, but who knows.

Sorry about probably not answering your question at all, but all of this rambling has definitely got my gears spinning about this AU, so that's definitely a plus.

Thanks for the ask! My inbox is always open!!

#warrior nun #sister beatrice #ava silva #wn star trek au #star trek #star trek tng #ds9 #deep space nine #my asks

[its-a-hil]

alright sure @grandgobbobarb here are your question answers

relationship status: extremely clear. how i feel about it is equally unclear though.

fav color: i would like to direct you to the title of my photo sideblog, @sahil-takes-photos ("my favorite color is the sky")

song stuck in head: i mean there are so many that come and go but. secret base by zone (the anohana op) is a pretty consistent one

song im currently listening to: massara by kana-boon (the sarazanmai op). i really need to rewatch sarazanmai

3 fav foods: dalbati, 70% dark chocolate with no nuts or special flavorings, bagel (specifically poppy seed bagel w/ strawberry cream cheese)

last thing i searched: since high school ive done all my searches in ff private bc i didnt want them to affect search results, youtube recs, or autofill. so idk. probably something boring like the nhl website to see if the leafs were playing today

dream trip: i mean not one singular trip but just. things i really wanna see: - every extant space shuttle (incl enterprise) (also rip buran you were arguably a real one) - an aurora (doesnt matter whether it's north or south but north is likely more feasible) - the 2024 eclipse

what i want rn: the motivation to make bad art and separately finish writing my veleanor fic (the separately bc art and writing are different things in my head and also my fic is definitely not bad)

i dont like tagging ppl in things so if any oomfie sees this and feels like oversharing go for it

[theodorebasmanov]

I’ve rewatched “Drumhead Trial” (Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 4, episode 21). This episode in contrast with two previous is very serious. It’s about spying and sabotage. A Klingon exchange scientist leaked some information about Enterprise to Romulans, he’s also accused of blowing up some important part of the drive. An Admiral arrives to continue the investigation, the interrogations started, the Klingon admitted that he spied for Romulans, but didn’t admit sabotage. Then they found out that it was a mere accident and nobody blew anything up. During the interrogation, the admiral and her Betazoid assistant found out that a medical technician lied about something and held a huge secret. Even after the investigation seemed to be over and despite Picard's disagreement they decided to continue interrogations. They found out that that this medical technician’s grandfather was a Romulan, they also pointed out that Worf’s father is believed to Romulan collaborator. Fortunately, Picard managed to persuade the specially invited Admiral of security and the investigation weren’t necessary, the aftertaste remained. I didn’t remember that episode and the whole idea that in Federation a person may be accused just because he has “wrong” ancestors is very disturbing. P.S. What a dress the admiral had!

#star trek #star trek the next generation #star trek tng #st tng #st the next generation #drumhead trial #klingon #romulan #lieutenant worf #worf #worf son of mogh #captain picard #jean-luc picard

[spockvarietyhour]

That's not the ringing endorsement you think it is. "Affliction"

#Star Trek Enterprise #Enterprise #Affliction #Affliction (episode) #T'Pol #Jonathan Archer #startrekedit #startrekdaily #entedit #enterpriseedit #GIF #my gifs #tvedit #scifiedit #00sedit #secret enterprise rewatch #hide and queue

[1001aus]

I have a Top Gun au kicking around in my head where Cougar doesn't hand in his wings and so he and Merlin go off to Miramar and Maverick and Goose stay on the Enterprise. The exact details are not relevant to this though, the point is it is making me think about what was happening on the Enterprise according to what we see in the og movie

We never see or hear about any other aviators on the Enterprise even though there are clearly more jets.

This ties into a couple of things for me: the Layton seems to be 5-10 minutes away in a jet which is not a totally unreasonable amount of time for them to send back up. At the same time the Layton doesn't send any aviators into the air themselves when the carrier is disabled. Do they not have any aboard? Is there some non-mechanical part of the catapults' function that isn't working because the power is out? Idk idk. I haven't looked into that and I doubt there's much info available on account of it being military secrets how things like that work.

Which is connected to a second point that is: the catapults on the Enterprise don't work very well.

Assuming each jet started on its own catapult Stinger spends time shouting about how 15 minutes (the minimum time they say it will take to get one of the catapults working, to say nothing of actually launching someone off of it) is too long. There's some sort of maintenance issue going on there that hasn't been dealt with, possibly because under normal circumstances they don't need very high turnover on the catapults. (Idk how many catapults there are either. I know basically nothing about carriers and am just assuming that it's 4+. Neither movie gives a clear angle on that and I'm sure that's intentional)

Going back for a minute to those other aviators we hear nothing about: 3 pilots are sent to the Enterprise from Top Gun (Iceman, Hollywood, Maverick) one of whom had originally been deployed on the Enterprise. Cougar was there, but he isn't anymore. Did Maverick and Cougar get replaced in the ~month since leaving?

Unclear, but why is Stinger concerned about the catapults not working if there are no other pilots to send? There has to be someone already stationed on the Enterprise whose probably been there all along. It just doesn't come up because they never do anything. I'd have to rewatch the briefing scene to count how many people are actually there.

All of this is to bring up the actual question: how many other aviators are on board and what is their relationship with Maverick and Goose like?

Because let's be honest here Stinger decides to send them to Top Gun within a minute of Cougar turning in his wings and that implies Maverick, insubordinate reckless troublemaker that he is, is so far ahead of any other pilot on that ship that Stinger doesn't even consider it a question. It might very well be that his attitude rather than skill is why Stinger makes him the second choice in the first place.

And it that case it makes sense that we don't see the unknown others on the ship. The movie doesn't linger long on the Enterprise in the beginning and during the rescue mission those other pilots must be thoroughly unqualified to fly this emergency mission that they're pulling newly graduated Top Gun students from.

Anyway I'm probably going to go with four other pilot/RIO pairs which still leaves Maverick without a wingman. Still rotating them in my mind to see how they get along.

#top gun 1986 #idea tag #no top gun au #this still doesn't have a real working title let alone an actual title

[starlight-edith]

The new Star Trek shows are terrible I dislike them beyond belief

They’re all action and no story at all!

They destroyed all the past lore. Guinean doesn’t even know Picard now?? They met in the Victorian period!

I mean I guess it was technically data but that mission closes the circle! She should know him! Data mentions him!!

Elnor was my favorite character and they killed him. For what?

Echyp was one of my favorite characters in voyager and they killed him too! For what??

I literally stopped watching discovery because I couldn’t stand the reliance on “oooo spockkk, spock’s secret sister you’ve never heard of!!!”

They killed off the only gay characters almost immediately, and then brought them back after backlash. For what??

These shows are ruining Star Trek. These shows aren’t Star Trek. This isn’t Star Trek. This is a soap opera set in space. The scifi stuff doesn’t even matter!!

Voyager did a far better job at exploring the Borg.

They killed data in the first episode. For what?? For WHAT?

It’s all shock value!

I’m triggering Annika for no reason at this point. This isn’t Star Trek.

I’m probably not even going to have my kids watch this.

These shows make enterprise look good

I’m going to rewatch voyager when Picard is done. I need a pallet cleanser.

Voyager also triggers Annika, but … not like this.. not like this

#star trek #Star Trek fictive #small rant

[weerd1]

ENT Rewatch Starlog, 14 January, 2024: Episode 3.02 “Anomaly”

A series of spatial anomalies begin to wreak havoc on Enterprise, causing a warp shutdown and dropping them into normal space.

Sensors pick up a ship and Arhcer leads a MACO team over to search it, finding the aliens’ life-support failed sometime after a boarding killed many of their crew. Soon, another ship appears, and raids Enterprise, killing a member of the crew, and pirating a number of important provisions, to include the anti-matter stores needed for the engines. One of the aliens is captured however, and Phlox recognizes the species- they are NOT from the Delphic Expanse, but rather closer to known space. 

While T’Pol figures out that the derelict ship had discovered how to track the crafty pirates, Archer questions the prisoner. Indeed, they were just merchants, but once they entered the Expanse, they could not get back out and have become pirates to survive. The alien warns Archer that his morals will be a detriment. he also mentions that Enterprise would need to line its hull with “Trellium-D”—the ore mined by the outpost in the previous episode—to protect them from the space anomalies.  

Trip has not been back to visit T’Pol regarding neuro-pressure and is again not sleeping. Phlox offers an alternative- leaches whose secretions would help him sleep. Trip promises to see the first officer again for therapy.

They track the ship to what would appear to be empty space, but when they try to follow the path they pass through a distortion field that turns out to be an enormous cloaking field. Inside is a sphere 19-kilometers in diameter.

They manage to force a shuttlepod inside, and find that regardless of the 1000-year-old sphere’s origin, the pirates are storing their booty there.  Enterprise gets back most of its needed supplies but also realizes the pirate have raided a Xindi vessel, and may have more knowledge of the race. When the prisoner is not forthcoming, and continues to say Archer does not have the cruelty necessary to do what he must, Archer takes him to the airlock and begins to vent the air. The prisoner relents, and provides the codes necessary to access the pirate ship’s computer, where any Xindi database would be stored. When the pirates return to their cache, Enterprise attacks and in the course of the battle Hoshi manages to download the Xindi database. 

Archer returns the pirate prisoner to his crew, with the pirate remarking that once again Archer’s morals are in place and mercy will not serve them in the Expanse. Archer begins to search the Xindi database.

A bit of disclosure here: During the war on terror the US took on after the September 11th attacks, I served in the US Army as an interrogator, so the moral discussion here about what is justified to do to a detainee hits pretty close to home. I hare seeing Archer start down the road he does, but it is an important discussion—and a very Star Trek moral examination—that I can say our country very much needed at the time (and probably still). There is no moral justification for torture, period, and much as we all need to apparently be reminded of that, the crew of the NX-01 are faced with the question allegorically in a season written and filmed while we were actively in conflict in two countries after our own Xindi attack.  

At the time, I was worried that perhaps the writers were going to use this platform to demonstrate torture WAS justified.  I was gratified as the season played out and Archer and crew (though they still have missteps ahead) come to the morally correct realization. 

There’s a “Starship Troopers” style gearing up scene with all genders getting into uniforms in one locker room to beam over to the ship. Points to the director for having Archer as the only one shirtless this episode and (mostly) avoiding the cringy sexy-cam angles when he’s talking to the various MACOs, primarily to Corporal McKenzie played by Julia Rose. McKenzie will be mentioned in at least two more episodes, but this episode is the only time she appears onscreen. 

This is also the first time we get the hint that trellium-d will be what protects them from strange spatial occurrences. Sets up for a longer T’Pol arc we’ll start to see play out.  The mystery of the spheres is also introduced, with only the slightest indication they might be connected to the  anomalies plaguing the Delphic Expanse. The season is playing the long-game here, and honestly, doing it pretty well.  Interesting to go back now and watch when shows had 24 episodes a season, and the way they could pace themselves, instead of a 10-episode focused arc, that can work, but doesn’t leave room to luxuriate a little in a show’s universe. Hats off to Strange New Worlds for seeming to find the balance in the new landscape to harken back to episodic adventures that were still possible for Enterprise while still pursuing an overall arc. 

Next Voyage: One of those little detours we mentioned as Enterprise borrows from the TNG de-evolution playbook in “Extinction.”

(Images downloaded from @trekcore, and I will be happy to remove them if requested.)

#star trek #enterprise #star trek enterprise #enterprise rewatch #xindi saga

[noknowshame]

tag game! ✨ tagged by @seacollectsrivers (kind of)

favorite color: lime/pear/apple green and light pink

currently reading: The Odyssey (Emily Wilson translation) and Dune (allegedly)

last song: Soolaimon by Neil Diamond

last series: Our Flag Means Death (we’re about to give into a rewatch)

last movie: The Secret of NIMH

sweet, spicy, or savory: spicy (I put curry powder on EVERYTHING; yes, even that)

coffee or tea: morning coffee, afternoon tea

three ships: The USS Enterprise, The Black Pearl but only when it was still super cursed, and the RLS Legacy from Treasure Planet

currently working on: my Fucking Thesis (in same tone as the Fucking Warship)

favorite piece of clothing: a floral patterned shirt I bought at a 70’s vintage store (my closet is increasingly Rackhamcore)

comfort food: eggs in purgatory

favorite time of year: whenever there are the most bugs

favorite fanfiction: when I was like 12 I got really into TRON and the first fanfic I ever read was a TRON: Legacy fic about mind control that made me cry

tagging: the person reading this 👁️

#ships #i love answering questions I just want to play trivia forever #it honestly did not occur to me until halfway through that was not referring to like... ships on the sea

[sttngfashion]

5.26 and 6.1 - Time’s Arrow

Oh my god. Y’all. It’s a new Fashion It So post. In the year of our Picard 2020. Yes.

For literal years, Charlie and I have been like UGH WE NEED TO DO TIME’S ARROW PARTS 1 AND 2 BUT IT’S JUST SUCH A MONSTER.

Well, I’m doing a complete rewatch of the series with my partner and we just got to these two, so IT IS TIME. 

We open in a cave in San Francisco, where Data and Picard are checking something out:

Rent for the cave is $6,000 per month

Showing them around is this guy in a Science Outfit:

He’s ready to go night biking

We’ve seen this look before in both Silicon Avatar and Devil’s Due, and it’s functional, yet cute. Basically a windbreaker in jumpsuit form. 

They find a couple of items in the cave, including a pocket watch from 1889 and also:

I left my head in San Francisco

IT’S DATA’S HEAD!!! And it’s been there for FIVE HUNDRED YEARS. What could have caused this? And why is Data’s head so absolutely terrifying?

Is that fondant

This head is, in a word, haunting. The 2020 of heads. 

Data and Geordi chat in Ten-Forward about what the presence of Data’s head in the cave means. Data says it means he’s mortal; that someday he will die, and that’s comforting. Spoiler alert: that’s not what it means. But it’s a nice conversation.

Also, Guinan is here!!!

Merlot My God!! 

Or maybe: Burgundy-lightful!! Or perhaps: De-Crimson-alize Sex Work!! Okay that last one was a stretch but I really think I missed my calling as a nail polish shade namer. 

Anyway, she’s here in her classic look of a pizza-sized hat and a flowing gown/coat/top/robe. The collar here is a little too close to a mock turtleneck for my liking and honestly - this is a little staid for our friend Guinan. I want a TEXTURE or a SWEEP or some WIDE RIBBING or some PLEATS. Don’t worry, though...she will get plenty more later.

Then there’s some plot which frankly we DO NOT HAVE TIME to get into but let’s just say: the away team goes to a planet, there’s a temporal disturbance, and Data ends up here:

Huge mood

Where are we? Or should I say WHEN are we??

Well that old-timey font is a good clue...also the horse

Are we in the Old West land of an off-brand Disneyworld? Are we going to ride something called Large Lightning Mesa Train Tracks? What colorful characters will we meet here?

Winner of 1893’s Mustache Medal

This type of ‘stache is called a Fu Manchu, after the character Dr. Fu Manchu. It’s not...a great look? But it is memorable, which is sometimes enough. He’s also wearing a simple black cap, probably made of silk. He’s keeping it cazh.

So where are we?

SAN FRANCISCO, OPEN YOUR GOLDEN GATE / YOU’LL LET NOBODY WAIT / OUTSIDE YOUR DOOR

Yes, it’s San Francisco. And it’s *eyes popping out of head like a cartoon wolf seeing a busty babe* 1893!!!! That temporal disturbance was...disturbing.

So who else do we have hanging out?

Please check out our Vaudeville act, Knit Cap ‘n’ Bowly

These dudes understand those famous Bay Area MICROCLIMATES, amirite? We’ve got a Henley. We’ve got a buttondown. We’ve got a vest. We’ve got a coat. No matter which way the thermometer decides to go, THEY ARE READY. Also loving the pop of forest green on Knit Cap’s knit cap. 

We also have a 49er:

No, it’s not Steve Young. I googled “famous 49ers” to complete this joke so if there is a more famous 49er please let me know

It’s a literal 49er. Since it’s 1893, this guy’s been hanging around in town for a while, and he’s also familiar with the layering techniques one must master if one is to conquer the Bay Area’s climate. He also has a kicky Colonel Sanders-type tie. He asks Data for money and gives him a few panhandling tips. He’s chill. We like him. But don’t get too attached if you know what I mean!!!!

Data decides he needs somewhere to stay, so he finds a hotel:

Brian.

Why is this so funny to me. Brian. Why would you name your hotel Brian. Brian!!!! I know it’s a last name but like...Brian. HOTEL BRIAN. 

This bellhop’s name is not Brian:

Where’s your hat, bro

He’s giving us a classic bellhop look, complete with too many buttons. He gives Data the very important information that there’s a poker game happening in the back of the hotel, which means: Data is about to be RICH rich. 

The poker game includes a few good looks:

Louie Anderson IS Wolverine IN a Lands’ End barn coat

Two plaids? Sir...I salute you

Colonel Sanders Goes to Carnaval

Data, of course, wipes the floor with them so hard that he wins their clothes:

Didn’t get that barn coat tho

Yes, that’s the actual vest and the actual hat of those guys from the previous scene. Oh, I love it. I love Data in a vest over his uniform and I love Data with a feather in his cap. Let’s call it macaroni.

Meanwhile, out on the street, the plot is happening:

Beige: inescapable

This is our first taste of the decadent 1890’s sleeves that appear in this episode, and these aren’t even the best sleeves!! These are an amuse-bouche of sleeves. An armuse-bouche, if you will. 

Anyway, these two are aliens disguised as humans who are here to steal the 49er’s life energy. 

Pew pew pew

I told you not to get attached!!!

Back on the Enterprise, Guinan is doing mixology:

She would never call it something as stupid as mixology though

She tells Picard that he needs to go check out the temporal disturbance, too, even though captains don’t normally go on away missions, and then she gives him this look:

It’s that serious

When Guinan looks at you like this, you do what she says. 

Now this outfit is much better than the earlier one. We have some pleated sleeves, which I didn’t even think was a thing you could DO. We have some sort of functional(?) strap(??) across the front. We even have matching fingerless gloves which always make a look A LOOK. And if Picard wasn’t sure whether he needed to go on this away mission, she then gives him THIS look:

Okay now it’s REALLY serious

Back in 1893, Data is making something:

It’s actually just a really complicated and large music box that plays “I Left My Head in San Francisco”

He’s gotten his hands on some more period-appropriate clothing, including a bow tie and a vest. Since he’s not wearing arm garters and his sleeves appear to be the correct length for his arms, we can conclude that the shirt was custom-made, not ready-made, because Data is now a baller due to his poker earnings. 

Then, Data sees this in the paper:

I know her!! From work!!!!

Yes, it’s Guinan. In 1893. In a hat!!!!

We cut to the literary reception, which is honestly not as well-attended as I thought it would be, considering it got a GIANT photo of Guinan on page THREE of the paper, but okay. And who should we spy there but:

You’ll love my secret blend of 11 herbs and spices

No, it’s not Colonel Sanders. (Sorry, I really have Colonel Sanders on the brain because of that Lifetime movie.) It’s Samuel Clements, AKA Mark Twain. I had an English teacher in high school who explained the origin of his pseudonym (it indicates a mark of two fathoms, aka twelve feet, on a steamboat) and for some reason she shouted MAAAARK TWAAAAAIN when she told us that story so now her delivery of that line is in my head until I die I guess.

Anyway, it’s Mark Twain.

He’s wearing his iconic white linen suit with a black bow tie, and he’s also wearing a lot of prosthetics, because the actor playing him (Jerry Hardin, AKA Deep Throat from The X-Files AKA Melora Hardin AKA Jan Levinson-Gould’s dad) (was that too many AKAs) (you get it, right?) didn’t look enough like Mark Twain, I guess? In conclusion: what if eyebrow wigs were a thing?

Twain is having a chit chat with “Madame Guinan,” who is wearing what can only be called a sumptuous gown:

It’s 11:30 and the gown is sumptin’ sumptin’

There are so many ELEMENTS to this look! First of all: the color. Royal purple. Fit for a queen. Appropriate. 

Then: those sleeves! These sleeves are known as “leg of mutton sleeves” because they KIND OF look like a leg of mutton. Have you ever seen a leg of mutton? I haven’t. I’ve only seen these sleeves. Plus they have a stripe?? No, I don’t know why, but I LOVE IT.

The cuffs and the cravat bring this from “dress” to “lewk.” Top it all off with this hat and you have a true 1893 mood.

What bird is that feather even from

We get a few good extra looks in this scene as well:

Pink Lady is NOT wearing a corset

Look, sometimes you don’t have enough period-appropriate undergarments for all the background people and that’s fine. But I WILL notice.

Is that Loretta Lynn

I am loving all of this! That purple dress is fantastic, those stripes? I die. Military man has some fun flair on his shoulder, and there is a dude in a beautiful turban back there. Plus, another Black lady in addition to Guinan and That One Ensign Who Is On The Bridge Sometimes.

Data rolls in to the literary event in a different suit with a CRAVAT:

Craving a cravat

Data is like “we serve together on the same starship in the 24th century” and Guinan is like “huh” but then she’s like “okay” which...I’m not sure if I would believe that? But let’s just say it’s fine. 

Over in the 24th century, the literal entire bridge crew is checking out the temporal disturbance and I DON’T LIKE THIS AT ALL:

Blue Man Group...on ACID

These beings are like ghosts but also like Dr. Manhattan but also like pure energy. 

Then everyone goes through the temporal disturbance AND THE SEASON ENDS. 

Fortunately for you, this post will continue...right now.

Okay, so we’re back in San Francisco in 1893. You can tell by the horses:

Also the fruit carts

Samuel Clemens is strolling around with a reporter, telling him that he has a great story for him that involves time travelers and, like, protecting the nation.

Here’s the thing about this episode’s version of Mark Twain: he’s kind of a dick. Was the real Mark Twain kind of a dick? I just feel like Mark Twain should be JAZZED about meeting time travelers and not acting like a fuckin’ time cop* and trying to put the Enterprise crew on blast. 

Anyway I love his double-breasted vest.

See my vest

The reporter’s hat is technically period-accurate, but that style is SO associated with the 1930s-1950s that I would have gone with something else. He looks cute though.

Meanwhile, Data is wearing a three-piece suit:

My positronic olfactory synapses are interpreting something as...a fart

I hate brown, but this is fine.

Additionally, the beige baddies from before are back and this time, they’ve got a SNAKE CANE:

Love the snake cane, hate how they suck the life out of people

But we are not here for them, we are here to see our faves in period clothing. Our first look is at Riker, who is dressed as an actual cop, not a time cop like Mark Twain:

The past just had...so many buttons

I guess if you’re a time-traveling white man there are worse disguises than a cop. But WHERE DID HE GET THIS UNIFORM? I choose to believe that he found a cop with a similar large handsome body to his own and beat the shit out of him and stole his clothes. Now we can all enjoy imagining a cop being beat up.

The badge that Riker is wearing is a great historical detail; the SFPD started wearing them in 1886 and are reportedly the first law enforcement agency to have worn the seven-pointed star, which is now a common shape among sheriff’s departments across the United States.

But let’s move on to a better look: Dr. Beverly Crusher:

Curlz MT

Okay, now I have more questions. Beverly obviously wouldn’t beat someone up for their clothes, so where did SHE get HER outfit? And who did her hair? Did she do her OWN hair? Where did she get a curling iron? Does she know how to use a curling iron? Was it one of those ones that’s actually made of iron that you have to heat up in a fireplace? 

We will get answers to zero (0) of these questions.

We actually get a much better look at her dress later, so let’s focus on that cloak!!! I love it and I also love her hat. Okay, I guess I had less to say about those than I thought.

Bev and Will, along with the rest of the officers, have somehow procured a room/apartment in some lady’s lodging house. It’s cute!

They gave it 5 stars on AirBnB

This also raises questions. How did they get this room? How many bedrooms does it have? Are they sharing one large bed? If so, who has to sleep crossways at the foot of the bed and why is it Geordi? We will get zero answers to these questions as well, so let’s move on to arguably the hottest costume in this two-parter:

I’ll be in Holodeck 4

Whewwwwwww. He’s giving us a rolled sleeve. He’s giving us a casual tweed vest. The pants? They’re perfect. And he KNOWS how that slouch is working. It’s working VERY well. But the Irish landlady? She’s having NONE OF IT.

Absolutely NO nonsense

She needs the rent, but Picard charms her and she leaves. So I guess that’s how they got the room. Her look is knitwear-forward:

Eileen Fisher does sound like an Irish name

She’s got a shawl AND a cardigan! The cozy factor is OFF THE CHARTS. She also has a brooch, because a touch of fancy is always welcome. I will say that her hair is a little more fashion-forward than I’d expect for a woman of her age and station. This is straight up 1890s hair, and she would probably still be rocking an 1860s look, which isn’t as sweepy and would likely involve more braids. Still, she looks lovely. 

Geordi is also here looking dapper:

Make the collar as high as you can. I want to be sliced open by my own collar

You CAN go wrong with a three-piece suit, but it’s difficult to. He can’t wear his visor, so he has some kicky shades which we’ll get a better look at in a sec.

Back at the Hotel Brian (lol), the bellboy (who we learn in this scene is Jack London, inspired to be a writer by Mark Twain [citation needed]) lets Mark Twain into Data’s room and allows him to look around unsupervised. This is very bad hotel management. 

Great Scott

Then Data and Guinan show back up, and Mark Twain hides in an armoire.

One short day in the emerald brocade

I think one reason I love Guinan’s looks so much, both in the 24th and the 19th century, is that our color palette is very similar. We’re both winters. Bold jewel tones are the vibe. This one is in a beautiful deep green fabric with what looks like a velvet flocking pattern on it. The collar is also velvet, and I love that sleeve with a flounce on top like there wasn’t already enough fucking fabric on the sleeve so they just added a random piece to be like “yes, bitch. I’m a sleeve.”

Naturally, the hat is also jaunty af:

San Francisco’s hottest milliner is: Madame Guinan

This hat has everything: feathers, netting, a brim, an angle that makes you think it’s going to fall off but it doesn’t. We stan.

Meanwhile, Picard is setting up a sensor in a hospital while wearing a hat:

I’m bowled over

We haven’t even asked where Picard got these clothes, but I would like to point out that he’s dressed as a lower-class guy, while Riker is a cop, and Geordi looks like a gentleman. Was there even a discussion they all had about how they would disguise themselves? Was Picard like “I just really want to wear a beat-up bowler hat” and since he’s the captain, they extrapolated from there? This episode is NOT CONCERNED about any of this. They all have clothes, end of story. 

Bev even has TWO outfits!!

Hello nurse!!!!

I love this look. She still has her unlikely hairstyle happening, which means her nurse’s cap is sitting atop her voluminous hairstyle. (Not very practical, but realistic!) She’s sporting a simple striped dress and a button-on apron. (Look closely and you can see the two buttons holding the apron to the dress.) The fabric underneath might be cotton seersucker, but it’s likely a lightweight cotton or linen twill. You can see how closely her look matches these nurses from a similar time period:

Hello nurses!!!!

Deanna is also in this scene and this episode, but you wouldn’t know it from what she’s given to do. HUGE SHOCKER: TROI NOT GIVEN ENOUGH TO DO IN AN EPISODE. 🙃

She still looks beautiful:

Why aren’t capelets more popular

We never get a really GREAT look at her whole outfit, but I can tell you that it has a capelet, it’s in the red family, and the hat has a lot of business going on. For those reasons: approved. It has a flounce in the back too:

More fabric = more wealth

Sometimes I think about just how much fabric it took to make these old-timey dresses and I’m like...how did anyone get anything done?? It takes me like 4 weeks to finish a pair of leggings and those have like 5 seams and I own a serger. These historical bitches were sewing whole ass dresses in no time at all. 

Okay, so Bev is in this hospital and here come some more energy-stealing aliens, disguised as healthcare professionals this time:

I cannot take a medical professional wearing a LIGHT BROWN TOP HAT seriously, sorry

Bev AND this energy-stealing alien have BOTH managed to get their hands on the SAME nurse’s uniform?? I guess in the case of the alien, she is a shape-shifter, so she got her clothes from...that. And her hair. 

I hate this light brown top hat. If you’re going to wear a top hat, don’t DISRESPECT IT by making it BROWN, but if you’re going to make it brown, make it a good brown, like chocolate. Stupid energy-stealing aliens.

There’s a skirmish, the energy-stealing aliens disappear, and the real cops show up:

MOUSTACHE

Of course, the cops showing up is bad, because when has a cop showing up ever made a bad situation better? Never. Defund the police, but don’t defund handlebar mustaches. Those can stay.

Fortunately, Data has gotten a ping on that machine he was building before and shows up on a motherfucking HORSE:

Brent just wanted to show off

He’s back in his brown striped suit and red tie. Okay.

Everyone returns to the boarding house to suss out the situation, and we get a look at what Riker is rocking underneath his cop jacket:

Suspend me daddy

You can see very clearly here how the collar is not actually attached to the shirt. This was a thing people in the olden days did so they could wear their shirt for multiple days in a row and just switch out the collar and cuffs so they looked clean. As someone who is wearing the same sweatshirt for the third day in a row, I support this method. (If you’re interested on more info about collars, here is a very enjoyable article about them.)

We are also blessed with a better look at Deanna’s sleeves and bodice:

Black lace cuffs? Decadent!!!

You can also see Geordi’s shades, which suit him really nicely. One thing I’ve been enjoying on this rewatch is just how well LeVar Burton can act without having his eyes visible. He’s great. Let’s just all think about how great LeVar Burton is for a second

And also Bev’s dress:

I legitimately want this dress

I don’t think those buttons are functional. Can you imagine how annoying THAT would be? But I am absolutely in love with this dress. Two paisleys, Beverly???? A goddess. I’m also dying for that brooch with the chain. A+ look all around, great work.

Finally, FINALLY, Guinan meets the rest of the crew:

When you meet someone you won’t actually know for 500 years

She is wearing a hat that looks like a toilet paper cozy. Did your grandma have one of these? They’re so stupid and I love them so much. 

Picard and Guinan meet for what is the first time for her, but not the first time for him, and honestly it is...sensual?????

If I got a m’lady from P. Stew I wouldn’t even mind

Patrick and Whoopi truly do some nice work in this ep. But we are here to yell about clothes, so: LOOK AT THIS DRESS ON AN EXTRA:

Gimme dat dress

I just want that dress to wear around my house. I legitimately bought an 18th century costume dress to do just that, so don’t think I won’t literally do this.

OKAY, WE ARE ALMOST TO THE END. 

The crew, plus Guinan, go back to the cave where this all started:

Cave Club, the only club that meets in a cave

We get a nice look at the bodice of Guinan’s dress here and guess what: MORE BUTTONS. Buttons on the lapels, and also buttons on the front panel with the pointy top. I wonder if she has multiple front panels for that dress in different colors, like a Swatch watch. 

Unbeknownst to them, Mark Twain followed them!! Then there’s a scuffle with the energy-stealing aliens during which a few things happen:

Data’s head flies off

Mark Twain gets sucked into the temporal disturbance

Guinan gets hurt

Picard stays behind to make sure Guinan is okay

So we end up with Mark Twain on the Enterprise, where he sees Worf, and he’s like:

Buh-WHAT

Worf is also confused:

This is...extremely perplexing

We have a few more looks back on the Enterprise, including Regular Guinan:

ShoulderSpreads™: The Bed Spread for Your Shoulders

I love love LOVE this outfit. The color is perfect, the shoulderspreads are perfect, the front draping is perfect. It looks like a velvet housedress from the 1960s except FANCY which is kind of my ideal aesthetic. And it’s red (my fave). 

We get a quick glimpse at the barber uniform:

Bitch let me pass, idc if you wrote Huck Finn

This barber does. not. give. a. fuck!!!! 

Geordi reattaches Data’s head, the one they already had, which means this whole thing was a ding dang closed loop. The reattachment also kind of diminishes the whole conversation they had earlier about how Data’s head in the cave meant that Data could die someday, because...he didn’t. He still might, but his head is back and he’s fine now.

Meanwhile, Picard is still back in 1893 and they have to go get him, but only one person can come back through the temporal disturbance, so Mark Twain is like “duh I’ll go get him.” 

And finally Guinan and Picard can talk about how their friendship spans 500 years!!!!

Hey girl

Hey

YOU’RE WELCOME

*abolish the police

#SEASON 5 #SEASON 6 #TNG #TNG FASHION #STAR TREK #STAR TREK FASHION

[raylangivins]

hey I like going through your justified tags and seeing your random thoughts so,,, you wanna give a ranking of each season for me? it's really interesting seeing which ones are people's favorites since justified is one of the few 2010s shows that follows a complete hero-villain story arc in a season. each has a quantifiable Vibe and Message unique to that season. go!

first of all that is very sweet thank you ❤️

i love this question and thought about it a lot on my last rewatch so thank you for asking.

1. my personal favourite is season 4 because i LOVE the drew thompson mystery so much and how it weaves these ideas of like urban legend and folk tale into how harlan came to be and raylan and boyd's personal histories with harlan. the fact that bo and arlo started their criminal enterprise with money from drew thompson and then both went to their deaths hiding his secrets only for raylan and boyd to end up competing to unearth them!!! and all because they're both trying to be different to their fathers and build their own futures on the success of finding drew!!!! that raylan and boyd are forced to question what they knew of their fathers and what they know of themselves!!! that it ends with boyd alone in the house he wanted to build his clean future in and with raylan's darkest, most morally grey act of the whole series -- the exact opposite of what either of them wanted!!! i also love the boyd/ava stuff going on that season, and just ava's individual storyline with ellen may. it's nice to see who ava becomes when her stakes in the crime business are slightly more personal than being attached to boyd. and i'm sure i've said in many a post that decoy is my favourite justified episode because it is!!!! it's so good!!!!!! whole season makes me buckwild.

2. while 4 is my favourite obviously season 2 is objectively the best season of justified. all the bennett stuff is so fucking good. like, mags is by far the best season big bad in the entire show's run (excluding boyd bc he's a main), and absolutely everything that season does with history, with cycles of violence, with family, with the kind of loyalty you're expected to owe to your home and your people....delicious! i already sorta talked about the loretta/raylan(/helen) parallels but it's just such a lovely and heartbreaking little journey for raylan's character that season. boyd and ava's growing relationship is so compelling, and i like that boyd's a little displaced at the beginning. boyd takes a lot of shapes throughout the show, so it's interesting to see him just like...unmoored for a while. and how even just that puts raylan on edge. also i need to give a special shoutout to dickie bennett because...i LOVE dickie bennett. i love that he has raylan and boyd's problem of still clinging to some terrible harlan violence that happened to him as a teenager but unlike raylan and boyd he's in it by himself. raylan does not give a shit, and that makes it so much worse. like i constantly think about that scene where dickie has raylan hanging from a tree and after hearing about the baseball incident from everyone but dickie we finally hear just how angry dickie's been about it his entire life. dickie knew the number of steps a person takes every day off the top of his head!!! raylan crippled him and raylan truly does not fucking care at all. it's like that thing where someone's your best friend but you know someone else is their best friend, except raylan's dickie's worst enemy but dickie's not raylan's because boyd already took up the mantle. hilarious and tragic. DICKIE!!!

3. number three, season 3! i liked quarles as a villain in season 3. i like that he got progressively more unhinged the more he had to deal with raylan and boyd's shit. i like all the limehouse stuff and wish we'd gotten more of it, (obviously my preference tends to lean towards seasons where there's harlan "world-building" and backstory so to speak, and the internal politics of noble's holler was so interesting to me. and that in relation to the women of harlan especially frances givens would've been cool to explore, although i get why they didn't.) i also love the stuff going on with raylan/arlo/boyd because like....what the fuck lmao. i wish we'd gotten to see more of how boyd felt about arlo and raylan's whole deal. i get boyd being dismissive to raylan about it tbh because boyd has is own daddy issues and he's angry about it in completely different ways to raylan but i'd love to see how he reconciles all that in his head. if it's something he even needs to reconcile or if he truly just doesn't care. and also how raylan feels about it because the most we really get is a kind of general annoyance with boyd and arlo that mixes in with the crime stuff, and then his detached hurt when he tells winona why arlo shot tom bergen.

4. season 1 babey. it's the most procedural and i think the show is better when it's more of a serial story, but like, understandable, the show was still finding it's feet. obviously it kicks into gear when boyd comes back, but even before that it's fun. raylan's a real idiot in this one and it is very enjoyable to me -- a person who enjoys seeing raylan be an idiot. he kills 10 people this season!!!! insane man!! the entire scene with boyd/ava/raylan trapped in the cabin in bulletville is probably one of my all time favourites because it's so fucking silly.

5. i do like season 6 but to be perfectly honest i really don't care about markham or katherine hale and i wish less time was spent on them. i don't think the season needed a big bad other than boyd although i guess they needed boyd to be doing something for raylan to be chasing after him. there's stuff about that whole storyline which i do like--katherine fucking with ava was very nerve-wracking and good television--but idk. i think the most affecting moments of the season were with the characters we already knew--boyd murdering dewey, loretta trying to fill mags shoes, raylan kissing ava in her kitchen, raylan seeing arlo's "ghost" in the shed, all the scenes with raylan and anyone else on the marshal team just being tim/art/rachel: are u gonna be chill about catching boyd?? raylan: nope :^). i think the latter half where the build up for raylan and boyd's confrontation finally starts to crescendo is better than the first half, although i do like how viciously petty boyd and raylan spend the first half of the season being. the raylan/boyd/ava stuff is so, so good too, it's what carries the whole season for me.

6. for the record i do not think there is a bad season of justified, but 5 was like...the least fun? it's kind of a bummer season, i get why people tend not to like it as much. i do actually quite enjoy the crowe stuff. i think the dynamics going on between wendy, darryl and kendal are all so fucked up and painful, and i thought watching them tear each other apart, while not very satisfying (because it's a bummer), was told really well. there's also interesting stuff with raylan trying to insert himself into it, because he essentially offers kendal the same thing he offered loretta in season 2, but kendal doesn't really take him up on it, and then raylan's caught between his desire to wreck darryl's shit vs trying to protect this young boy who's caught up in it just because he was born into it. and then all of that's twisted up in raylan's obvious issues with fatherhood and the fact that he spends the entire season avoiding his daughter. love the stuff going on with poor dewey. ava's prison storyline is infuriating, again, because it's a massive fucking bummer, but i do like the journey ava goes on. the tension between raylan and art is also something that realistically had to happen eventually, and i thought it was good, but tied up a bit too neatly? i think the main issue with the season is just how split all the storylines feel. raylan, boyd and ava are all kinda doing their own thing for most of the season and i think they're at their best when their paths are clashing and converging on each other. like season 6, i think season 5 is a season with more individual good moments than good cohesive story/character moments.

#replies #anon #justified