Before we get into this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase, some sad news.
Gentleman Jack will not be back.
Here's the statement from HBO: "HBO will not be moving forward with a third season of Gentleman Jack. When we began this journey more than five years ago, we knew the series' creator Sally Wainwright had a uniquely compelling vision, and it's been tremendously gratifying to see how Anne Lister's journey has resonated with viewers. We are incredibly grateful to Sally, to the impeccable Suranne Jones and Sophie Rundle, and BLAH BLAH BLAH!"
I don't care! All I know this means no more Gentleman Jack, there is no God, the world sucks and I hate everything!
I'm not crying! You're crying!
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Oh shut up!
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Damn it! Let's get on with this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase.
Last week brought us the season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I've expressed my dissatisfaction with Star Trek resorting to prequels and reboots and I wasn't exactly clamoring for another one.
But after Anson Mount's turns as Captain Christopher Pike in season 2 of Star Trek: Discovery, I was in fact clamoring for this one.
Mount's Capt. Pike is like the world's best dad. He's a firm authority figure when he needs to be bet he's also kind of goofy and knows a million ways to make eggs.
But Trekkers know Pike is heading for a tragic future and thanks to an encounter with a Klingon time crystal during his stint on Discovery, Pike knows it too. It's a dark shadow looming over his otherwise bright and positive spirit.
In the season finale, Pike thinks he may have a way to avoid his unavoidable fate. Until a visitor from the future delivers a warning.
It's an older and otherwise healthy Pike who has avoided the tragedy that destroys him but at a great and terrible cost. With the help of a handy dandy Klingon time crystal (order yours today and we'll include this Klingon time pendant absolutely free), future Pike show our Pike why.
Our Pike quantum leaps into the body of the captain of the Enterprise 7 years in the future. Having avoided the devastating radiation explosion that leaves him a barely alive mind in a shattered corpse body stuck in a box, the captain of the Enterprise is still... Captain Christopher Pike.
The Enterprise receives an alert of an attack on a outpost along the border of the Neutral Zone.
What plays out next are the events of the Original Series episode "Balance of Terror" except it's Pike in charge of the Enterprise facing down an incursion from the Romulans.
Another difference is the Enterprise is not alone. The ship is joined by the USS Farragut commanded by (wait for it!) Captain James T. Kirk. (Paul Wesley channeling less William Shatner and more Jim Carrey.)
Some things play out like they did in "Balance of Terror". The unexpected reveal that the Romulans look like Vulcans is one.
Also the Romulan commander is basically a decent guy. Yeah, he's destroying Federation outposts which is bad but he's just doing the job his bosses sent him to do and he's ready to go home.
But history diverges a bit. Unlike in "Balance of Terror" where Kirk is determined to stop the Romulan ship at all costs, Pike is inclined to negotiate. He successfully secures a cease fire with the Romulan commander. So that's good, right?
Well, there is the matter of the Romulan sub-commander. As mentioned in "Balance of Terror", he has powerful friends and could cause trouble. Here in this time line, he does. The sub-commander summons a shit ton of Romulans who now have evidence of Federation weakness (Pike's negotiated cease fire) and are prepared to unleash hell on the Federation.
Under heavy fire from an entire Romulan fleet, the Enterprise is able to escape (thanks to timely subterfuge from Capt, Kirk) but not without sustaining significant damage and many casualties.
Including Spock.
Future Pike tells our Pike that every effort to escape his fate just dooms Spock and as future Pike tells us, Spock "has things to do."
In his present time, Pike is once more forced to accept his fate and make peace with it as best he can.
What Pike is NOT ready to accept and make peace with is his first officer Una being arrested by Starfleet for being genetically augmented.
Which is where we're left until season 2 rolls around sometime next year.
The first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was a bracing tonic after the debacle that was season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, bringing us back to a show that actually treks among the stars.
The episodic nature of the episode was a welcome call back to classic TV in general and the original Star Trek in particular. But the episodic structure did not eschew continuity. When the Enterprise gets its butt kicked in episode 4, the next episode shows the ship undergoing repairs at Starbase 1 in episode 5.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the first season is the lack of time spent with Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley / Number One. Our brief glimpses of her in Discovery and Short Treks were intriguing and demanded more attention be paid. Other than the revelation in episode three that Una is a genetically modified Illyrian, Una spends a lot of time on the back burner and her arrest at the end of episode 10 only serves to give the writers an excuse to push her character further in the background in season 2.
All in all, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is a welcome addition to the Star Trek franchise.
This past week also brought us the season 3 finale for The Boys. I think I will wait until next week's Touchbase to share my thoughts on this.
Spoiler: People 'SPLODE!
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
And trying hard not get worked up again Gentleman Jack, is not coming back.
I promised myself I... would not cry.
...
...
Oh shut up!
And go away already.
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