Before we kick off this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase, some bad news. On Friday, NBC announced it would not renew Quantum Leap for a 3rd season.
Andrea and I really liked this show and judging by the response online, we are most certainly not alone in our disappointment that NBC would not continue this show for another season.
Well, besides the relatively low ratings, the show was not produced by Dick Wolf.
Maybe if it was....
"In Project Quantum Leap, time travel is managed by two separate yet equally important groups:
the leapers who travel through time to put right what once went wrong
and the project support team who guide and help the leapers.
These are their stories."
Or maybe we can connect Quantum Leap to Dick Wolf's Chicago franchise as Dr. Ben Song leaps through time but only in Chicago. He leaps into Al Capone, Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, etc.
So after a long absence, Star Trek Discovery has returned for it's 5th and final season.
Discovery continues to be derided and underestimated. A lot of that owes to the series' very shaky start as another prequel nobody wanted and changes to Star Trek lore nobody liked.
But the series' jump to the 32nd century in season 3 has produced a cycle of episodes that I think are the epitome of Star Trek's ideals, that intelligence and wisdom will prevail over brute force, that compassion and understanding mean more than the pursuit of power.
Not that those lofty goals cannot be accompanied by some kick ass action and season 5 begins with a doozy: Capt. Michael Burnham riding on the back of a space ship at warp speed.
Damn!
No frustratingly whispered dialogue from Sonequa Martin-Green here. She goes "Woo-hoo!" as she rides this warp speed dragon.
Burnham and the Federation are after two ex-couriers named Mol and L’ak who have a nearly millennium old Tan zhakren, an ancient Romulan puzzle box. It is presumed the box contains clues to the Progenitors, the name given to the mysterious alien race we first met in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Chase". That episode established an ancient long dead race seeded worlds throughout the galaxy to create life in their image. In case you ever wondered why alien races like the Klingons, Vulcans, Cardassians and more are all at least vaguely humanoid.
It seems a Romulan scientist back in the 24th century may have worked out where the Progenitors came from and remnants of their tech. The power to create life is not insignificant. And that power could address timeless questions:
- Who are we?
- Why do we exist?
- What is our purpose?
You know, heady stuff like that.
And of great concern if the power of the Progenitors wound up in less than reputable hands.
So the chase is on once more 800 years later.
There are some changes afoot.
Saru is taking on the role of a Federation ambassador and he's engaged to T’Rina. Yep, their relationship has progressed since season 4 and being a Vulcan, her next logical course of action is a marriage proposal.
Which leaves Burnham needing a new first officer and the leads us to Commander Rayner. Rayner used to be a Captain until he got demoted by Starfleet. He's a crotchety older man who is used to being a cowboy captain during the days of the warp deficient "Burn" but in a warp enabled rejuvenated Federation, he's a bit out of touch. Burnham recalls her run up against Starfleet regulations back in the 23rd century (in the woebegone season 1, she was in prison for mutiny) and how Saru gave her a 2nd chance. She decides to pay it forward with giving Rayner a 2nd chance as her new First Officer.
Burnham and Rayner promise to be a new dynamic that may take some getting used to.
The Discovery gang encounter a synthetic life form named Fred. Well, he's not a "life" form when they find him; Mol and L’ak have killed him. But before they killed him, we find Fred to be a very engaging android with Data-like make up and yellow eyes and Brent Spiner-esque deadpan delivery.
Well, I hope Stamets can work some engineering magic and get Fred back to "life" again.
Star Trek Discovery returns with an action packed pair of episodes and a provocative story arc for this 5th and sadly final season.
Next week, I'm back with the 2nd half of season 2 of Invincible.
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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BONUS post coming up later today about the eclipse.
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