I saw 'Blood and Fire' the day after it hit the 'nets. If the goal was to inspire thought... well, it succeeded. In fact, I'm going to hold a bit of my reactions back, because when looking at a two-part story, it's only fair to review it as a whole. So consider this a mostly spoiler-free mini review of what we have so far.
First: I have been a fan of David Gerrold's for thirty years. I look forward to (and usually buy) whatever project he publishes/airs at any given time. So, I have known about the 'Blood and Fire' script for some time, and was very curious when the ST:Phase II folks decided to produce it. I became even more curious when it was announced that Gerrold would direct it. To the best of my knowledge (and it's pretty encyclopedic), he has never directed before.... but who else would he trust to guide his original vision to the screen?
Well, no one. But I kind of wish he'd had training wheels.
A lot has been said about the 'Gay Love Scene' in this ep. First- it is a 'love scene' not a 'sex scene'. I think I'm going to surprise some people by saying that I don't have a problem with the content of the scene, per se. The problem that I do have is one that plagues 'Phase II' as a series- the tone is uneven and inconsistent. This scene AS FILMED would fit in any of the later Star Trek series (i.e. Voyager or Enterprise). The issue I have with it is that stylistically and content-wise, it does not match the tone of the Original Series....
I stated earlier that it's a problem that's plagued the 'Phase II' people since it was 'New Voyages'. They want to be topical, yet they also try to match the tone, style and pacing of Star Trek:The Original Series. I enjoy what this crew does very much BUT- the lack of tonal consistency breaks me out of the stories that they are trying to tell. In this case: I get it. Peter Kirk loves Lt. Freeman. There are shorter and more tonally consistent ways of telling this story- but the scene drags on, carrying with it the unintentional message that 'Star Trek: Phase II' wants to rub our noses in some sort of gay agitprop.
Knowing Gerrold's body of work as I do, I do not believe this is the case... but honestly, it's the structural equivalent of a snake that has swallowed a basketball: You can't ignore it, even though it wants to be unnoticed.
On other fronts: Phase II's production values are improving with every episode- and that's really impressive as they started as the best looking (and ironically) tonally 'true' Star Trek fan production. The special effects are great, the lighting and camera work is pro level and even the acting has improved. I'm saving a overall series critique of 'Star Trek:Phase II' for later- suffice it to say that in some ways, the production values exceed the original series' and in other ways, it falls heartbreakingly short.
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Comments
27 December 2008
12 min 34 sec
I look forward to reading it.
23 December 2008
2 hours 18 min
I don't think that the metaframe is flexible enough to absorb the internal pressures that the Phase II crew is putting on it.
That said, it is notably in transition to a different metaframe: they are moving toward the Star Trek: Phase II proposal/preproduction work that was done for the stillborne flagship show for the aborted '70's Paramount network. Yet, even by 1978 standards and practices, this ep at least bent the frame.
This is something I'm going to look at when I do my 'series concept review'.
27 December 2008
12 min 34 sec
We've got McCoy saying "Goddamn" which is certainly what the real TOS McCoy was thinking quite a bit, but he was too polite to say it. And we're told in ST:IV that 20th century people are quite profane by 23rd century standards. We've got a guy getting consumed by bloodworms in a way that would have been unthinkably graphic in '69. There were a few other bits and pieces as well as the obvious big issue that everyone is talking about. That's a lot of departures from form for one episode. Is the metaframe strong enough to survive this many liberties this fast in your opinion?
23 December 2008
2 hours 18 min
I agree. Up until now, the Phase II people have really made it feel like 1969- but if you slap the ol' Peacock slate up in front of the show, you should see that it at least plays some sort of lip service (ooh, bad choice of words) to the standards and practices of the era. Keep the relationship building stuff, but shy away from the sort of physicality that was off putting even in the Next Gen era (I'm thinking of Troi seducing/being seduced by some ambassador with a generous supply of hot oil. Cringe inducing.)
That to me IS tone. Keeping within your metaframe so that the storytelling is consistent with the setting. And for the most part, this episode succeeds, with the exception of one scene that jarringly fails to stay inside the box that they've so carefully crafted over the last three years.
27 December 2008
12 min 34 sec
One of the things I've always really liked about the "New Voyages/Phase II" people is that they're attempting to do "Season 4" of TOS. Yeah, new Treks are fine and all, but frankly 20 years of 'em have bored me on the concept and if I'm honest what I really want is more TOS, and they really are trying to give it to me.
Their devotion to that concept is nothing short of amazing, and I find I respond really well to the idea that we're now 4 or 5 weeks in to the Fall '69 season on NBC.
Getting used to that, this episode kind of jarred me with it's use of profanity, and while the gay love scene wasn't explicit, it was overly physical and was the kind of thing that wouldn't have been allowed past the censors of the day, *Even if it was a heterosexual couple.* I mean, you couldn't even show open-mouthed kisses on TV in those days, much less all that bare-chested cuddling in bed n'stuff. So that sort of wrenched away my suspension of disbelief.