Over the last couple of weeks, I've been catching up on the long awaited return of some TV friends.
Outlander begins season 7 where the 6th season left off: Claire in jail in Wilmingon NC awaiting trial for the murder of Malva Christie. A trial that will be a long time coming: the American Revolution has begun and little things like a working judiciary are on the back burner.
Claire gets a reprieve from jail when the exiled colonial governor of North Carolina summons her to his ship off to tend to his ill and pregnant wife. From here, Claire is able to get a message to Tom Christie who in turn tells Jamie where is wife is being held.
Tom Christie's acting weird.
It was his daughter who was murdered and yet he has taken it upon himself to be of service to the woman who is accused of killing her. My guess was that Tom knows Claire did not kill Malva because he was the one who committed the fatal deed. Tom is a religious extremist who saw Malva, unwed and pregnant, as an abomination against God or some shit like that.
Jamie gets to the ship and after briefly reuniting with Claire confronts the governor to let Claire go. The governor isn't inclined to do Jamie any favors as Jamie seems to be avoiding taking sides in this revolution.
It's Tom Christie who secures Claire's release by going out to the ship himself and confessing to Malva's murder.
He also confesses he's loves Claire.
Wait! Who loves who when how what now?
Free of the charges against her, Claire and Jamie are finally together. Except...
There are holes in Tom Christie's confession. They are not satisfied he did in fact kill Malva.
God! I hate this show!
Then episode 2 happens and...
ARRGH!
We find out Malva was murdered by her brother Allan who was also the one who got her pregnant and...
What the fuck? Really!
A well place arrow from Ian sends Allan on his way to hell.
Also travelling...
Brianna and Roger welcome their baby daughter Amanda into the world. But Claire diagnoses her granddaughter with a heart condition that left untreated will surely kill her. There is a chance to save her with surgery.
That can be performed in the 20th century.
So Brianna and Roger with their son Jeremiah and their new baby daughter travel to Ocracoke Island where there's a time travel stone circle and they make the trip back to the future.
Meanwhile back at Fraser's Ridge, thinks take a tragic turn when Wendigo Donner, another time traveller, makes trouble for Claire and Jamie and sets their house on fire.
Man! I really hate Outlander!
And I gotta wait a week to find out what happens next!
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is back for it's 2nd go round but episode 1 is light on Capt. Pike and 1st Officer Una. Una was arrested at the end of season 1 for her violating the prohibition against genetic modification and Pike is off looking for a good lawyer.
Episode 1 of season 2 finds Spock in charge. The Enterprise in space dock for repairs, upgrades and inspection so nothing is expected to come up.
Something comes up: a message of distress from La'an, the Enterprise's security chief who is on leave and seems to be in some trouble on a planet on the edge of Klingon space.
Admiral April tells Spock not to answer that call.
Spock decides they are therefore going anyway and gives the word: it's time to steal the Enterprise.
The plan gets undone almost immediately by Commander Pelia, a strange and quirky Starfleet instructor and engineer played by the strange and quirky Carol Kane. She knows a fake warp core breach when she sees one. But instead of ratting out Spock and the crew, she suggests a better way to get the Enterprise out of space dock.
The episode is a high octane adventure/caper with lots of fightin' with Klingons and shit and eventually, Spock brokers a temporary peace between the Federation and the Klingons over barrels of blood wine.
Spock gets a hangover.
This is the episode which as that scene we saw in the previews: Spock's go to warp catch phrase is “I want the ship to go NOW!"
There's some divide among the fandom if the catch phrase is perfect for Spock or lame. Me, I love the hell out of it.
Oh and the Klingons are back to their forehead ridge look and not that white cadaverous look they had in season 1 of Discovery.
In episode 2, "Ad Astra per Aspera" (Latin for "To the stars through hardship"), Pike gets that lawyer and Una goes on trial for just being herself.
As even the prosecution must attest, Una has been an exemplary officer and is a positive asset to Starfleet. But she's being charged with the crime of being genetically modified. Which wasn't even her decision. She's from the planet Illyria where everyone is genetically modified.
Una is not on trial for anything she's done. She's on trial for merely existing as the person she is.
And if the parallels aren't clear to current assaults on LGBTQ+ community through laws attacking particularly trans gender people here in the 21st century, Una's lawyer Neera is prepared to bring them up. History is filled with laws against people for merely being: for being black, for being Muslim or Jewish, for being gay or trans.
Neera then flips the Federation's own law book at them and the judges have no choice but to drop all charges against Una.
This does fuck all for other Illyrians but at least this is one battle won and Una is at least one Illyrian who can serve openly in Starfleet.
I hope Keith DeCandido is happy. He was kind of pissed about the lack of focus on Una in season 1 but hopefully this episode will make up for it. We get a lot of back story about Una's childhood and some disturbing cracks in the otherwise utopia paradise that is life in the Federation. Apparently humanity will always find something to look down on other people about.
The 2nd episode is a bit talky but it's still powerful and does what Star Trek does best: using the science fiction of the future to hold up a mirror to our present selves.
Next week, the Tuesday TV Touchbase will focus on Abbott Elementary and Community
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.
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