Not sure if it has been mentioned, but Hulu has Showtime for free this weekend. Gonna halt my Mr. Robot watch to try and binge season 2 of Penny Dreadful.

Dish Network also has a free Showtime weekend this weekend.

Giancarlo Esposito was a really good fit for the show. He had the right demeanor to balance the show's dark content with its defense-mechanism style humor. He was particularly good at navigating emotional reactions to situations. Unfortunately, Mike Giardello was never really figured out by the writers. The whole "hey, let's get the FBI involved so he has something to do" bit wore really thin really quickly. Literally making a federal case out of every episode was stupid.

Keep in mind, I started on 27 December and watched at least one episode daily until 14 January. That's 125 ~45 minute episodes, 1 movie, 6 commentaries, and every bonus feature in 19 days!

I went back to DS9 last summer/fall, while I was going through a particularly rough depressive episode. I mention this because one of the things that stood out to me this time through was that pretty much every character in the show is marginalized. Hell, there are only two people who even actually want to be on the station: Doctor Bashir and Gul Dukat!

Everyone else is there reluctantly: Jake Sisko is only there because his dad has been assigned there and his dad hates the post so much that he almost resigns his commission over it on his first day; Keiko O'Brien is there because her husband got a promotion, and she hates it there so much their marriage almost ends more than once; Quark is only there because Sisko blackmails him; Kira is there because she's pissed off someone in the Bajoran provisional government; Garak is there in exile seeking sanctuary.

I saw a lot of mental health allusions throughout the series that I think resonated with me at the time of the original broadcast but that I didn't consciously recognize as such. In some respects, DS9 is one big showcase of coping mechanisms. I think that's why the use of holosuites for recreation on that show works so well. There weren't many episodes where the gimmick was that a holo-program had gone awry. Instead, the focus was more on how Chief O'Brien and Doctor Bashir incorporated their holo adventures into their friendship, or that brilliant episode in which Nog retreats to deal with PTSD. It felt like how real people in this setting would make use of such technology, rather than being a storytelling conceit that allows for unconventional episode premises.

As I've done with some of the other series I've watched in the last few years, I did create a ranked list of DS9 episodes. In case it's of any interest, here it is.

I burned through S1 of Happy Days yesterday and today. Of course it wasn't *too* had being only 15 half our episodes. I'd been somewhat hesitant to purchase this one as I still recalled those last half dozen or so seasons being rather "bad" with far too much emphasis on Fonzie and stupidity. I was very happy that I enjoyed rewatching S1 and don't dread the next few seasons quite so much. It's more like a snapshot of the mid 50s and truly akin to George Lucas' American Grafitti in style. I have through S4 of that one and have no plans to purchase further seasons as I recall S5 being especially bad. After all, it's the one which gave us the phrase "Jump the Shark" to denote a moment when a beloved series takes a major turn for the worse from which it rarely recovers.

I picked back up with American Horror Story after that but didn't much care for the next group of episodes I viewed (4-7). It's starting to suffer from staleness/sameness and feels like it's going nowhere slowly. Maybe the last few episodes of the season will improve but I'm not holding out hope. So far I feel that what I've seen could have been done in half the number of episodes with greater overall effect.

Right now I'm taking a break from it by watching the next 4 episodes of Charlie's Angels and am thinking I'll start S1 of in Search of... after those.

Miles and Julian? Worf and NOTDax?

It is indeed very good, yes. I think it's my favourite of the Treks.

I discovered another good thing about Hulu. I let my subscription to the WWE Network expire this month due to less money, but found I can get my wrestling fix on Hulu. Hulu has a lot of the WWE series in it's catalog. I just feel watched an episode of Smackdown.

One of my UltraViolet group members added Girls Season 1 to our library awhile back, and I decided to check it out. I wound up watching all ten episodes. I've seen Tiny Furniture, which ultimately disappointed me, but I recognized the promise in Lena Dunham as storyteller and it was on that basis that I was interested to see how this show turned out.

It was posited, of course, as Sex & the City: The Next Generation, and in many respects that's fairly apt. I also detect, though, a distinctly Seinfeld-ian quality. I like in Girls the elements of both of those other shows that I see in it, but I also dislike the things in it that I disliked in those other two shows, too. What I enjoy about Girls is its unflinching sense of humor, its characters' willingness to be wrong and to make mistakes, and the sense that these young women know they're in over their heads but doing the best they know.

Of the four leads, my favorite is easily Marnie (Allison Williams). I can relate to her, I can sympathize with her, and I find it easy to root for her. Williams imbues her with a pronounced maturity that not only makes her the emotional compass of the show, but indicates potential for complex character growth.

Conversely, it's easy to find reasons to actively dislike pretty much every character in the show, whether because they're egocentric and irresponsible or because they do some genuinely awful things like snooping in someone else's room or a venture capitalist expecting that buying some drinks at a bar entitles him to a threesome with two of our leads. Adam (Adam Driver) is a handy illustrative example; for the first four episodes of the show, I detested the guy and it made me angry at Hannah (Dunham) for giving him a single moment of her time or energy. By the season's end, though, enough had been revealed about him that while I still loathe his behavior, I do see where he was developed as a voice within the show to call out Hannah for the things that we as viewers want someone to say to her.

Episode 8, "Weirdos Need Girlfriends Too", features some meta-level criticism of the narcissistic strain of Dunham's storytelling. In that episode, Hannah is invited by a former professor to bring an essay to a group reading. She wants to read a piece she wrote about an ex-boyfriend who turned out to be a hoarder, but is discouraged from doing so. It's "whiny" according to her roommate, and her latest boss goes into an entire diatribe about how "trivial" Hannah's writings are. He lists several weightier subjects ranging from acid rain to the plight of pandas.

As someone who writes about his own personal life experiences, I can appreciate that conflict. It can come across as pure narcissism to present a vapid anecdote, prompting readers/listeners/viewers to ask who the hell you think you are that your stupid little story has any value whatsoever, or why you aren't spending your time and energy on something that matters.

What I've found to be true for myself as a reader/listener/viewer that I try to keep in mind is something that Roger Ebert once noted: that what a movie (or story in any medium) is about isn't as important as how it is told. There's no question that Lena Dunham has the perspective of privilege, but what I recognize in her is a will to look inward that many, if not most, people lack. The average person runs from introspection, but Dunham is willing to put herself out there, risking ridicule and rejection, in hopes that we might find something universal in her stories that we can relate to despite not sharing her circumstances. And you know what? I do. I don't presently have access to the other three seasons that have been released so far, but I was sufficiently entertained and intrigued that I'll keep an eye out for a good deal on Season 2.

Almost positive that is more content than any of my past mind-destroying binges, and possibly more than a normal shadokitty month.

Congratulations?

Penny Dreadful episode 1 - I can see the fingerprints of Moore & O'Neill's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, so while the reveals were obvious, it's intriguing...

Penny Dreadful episode 2 - Shades of Norrington's LXG, and little more except swearing and Billie Piper. That'll do me for now, and possibly ever.

Does it improve?

Hey, I enjoy TV and I have a lot of time on my hands. What's wrong with that?

I finished my re-watch of Star Trek and have moved on to The Animated Series. A few of the episodes of TAS are better than what TOS put out there.

If folks are interested, here's my TOS Top Ten

1. Space Seed
2. City on the Edge of Forever
3. Amok Time
4. Trouble with Tribbles
5. Mirror, Mirror
6. Balance of Terror
7. The Enterprise Incident
8. Journal to Babel
9. The Menagerie Pts 1 & 2
10. Let This Be Your Last Battlefield

Holy moley, seventeen years of nothing I write being serious and people still don't get me. Everything I type is meant to poke. I've added a to my signature so I don't have to type it every post. Netflix and chill my man. Er, not with me ... not that there is anything wrong with that.

Sorry, didn't realize it was meant as a joke. No worries.

Well, a joke and a poke. All jokes have an element of truth, or one's opinion of truth, no? I realize that I used to be different and that I'm on the wrong forum to say these things, but watching more than an hour of TV a day is bad, m'kay? I'm not speaking to any individual, but society as a whole.

Of course, I myself averaged more than an hour a day three months last year, so what do I know?

Miles and Julian are just the best. We do not speak of Worf and NOTDax. We have all the feels about Kira, Jake, and Kasidy staring out windows.

I've been keeping myself busy watching nominees for the upcoming Academy Awards, but some of my downtime has been spent watching Murder, She Wrote. I'm hoping to finish the twelfth season before the month ends. I've been working my way through the series for the past three years, and nearing the end feels good. As I said before, many of the episodes are a bit subpar but still enjoyable.

Ah, windows... windows full of empty space!

I've said it before, but... I can see someone being told "leave Terry Farrell out of it, we're displeased with her," and I can see them saying "highlight Miles' friendship".

But who makes the logical leap to then excise his WIFE and DAUGHTER and the (crazy circumstances of the) on-station BIRTH of his child..?!

The situation the show presents at the beginning is the flip side of a typical Star Trek: The Next Generation episode. The Enterprise docks at a Federation station to find a bitter officer who hates Picard. They work their magic, un-bitter the officer (or remove him), and fly away - never mentioning it again. However, the show stays on the station and follows this assemblage of misfits and malcontents.

Having Sisko openly despise Picard in the first episode is really bold. Picard is one of the franchise's most beloved characters, and by opposing him Sisko sets himself up as someone not comfortable in his uniform. And Sisko's disgruntlement is just the tip of the iceberg. As you said, almost everyone (besides Bashir) is discontent with their lives and jobs. They are so different from the teams we've seen before, and there isn't that "all for one and one for all" camaraderie. For example, in the episode "Tribunal", Miles O'Brien is taken prisoner by Cardassia and accused of war crimes. When the crew of DS9 meet to go over the situation, Odo asks if Sisko is sure O'Brien isn't guilty, reasoning that he openly hates Cardassians. I cannot imagine Picard and Riker entertaining the thought that O'Brien may have committed similar crimes.

Now that I'm done, I've perused your list and agree with you about a lot. I'm not as taken with "The Visitor" as you are, and I liked "Valiant" a lot more. I agree that "Profit and Lace" is the absolute worst. If I were to rank the episodes, "In the Pale Moonlight" would be first, followed by "Duet" and "Nor the Battle to the Strong". Looking over your list makes me want to start from the beginning! However, I must journey forth into Voyager territory and beyond.

Don't forget the four made-for-TV movies from 1997-2003.

"Yesteryear" from TAS made my Top 10 of TOS episodes and movies!

I'm excited to find someone else who digs "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield" as much as I always have! It's often cited as Star Trek's clumsiest, preachiest, etc. but I think it works well. Frank Gorshin sells it.

I *still* don't quite know how I feel about Ezri. In a lot of respects, I suppose I feel about her about how I feel about Giancarlo Esposito joining Homicide: Life on the Street in its 7th season: the actors were good fits, but their characters just weren't figured out quickly enough. I wasn't much on the Ezri/Worf relationship originally, but last year I found myself responding to it more strongly. It was easier for me to sympathize with both characters.

I hate what they did with Captain Sisko in the final moments of "What You Leave Behind". At least Avery Brooks compelled them to go back and add the coda of him speaking to Kasidy and telling her that he will return, noting that with the Prophets's ability to circumvent linear time he could be back at any point. I like to picture him appearing just as Kas's water breaks and being all nonchalant about things, then them moving to that house he had planned on Bajor and living happily ever after.

As I've noted often over the years, DS9 is ultimately the crucible for "the Roddenberry vision". It isn't just Picard or Starfleet that Sisko was rejecting; it was Star Trek altogether. Here's a guy basically saying, "All that nicey-nicey stuff? I'm calling bullshit." It's because of this aspect to Captain Sisko that I love the episode, "Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang". It's a fun Ocean's 11 homage/send-up in general, but it's Sisko's rejection of whitewashing the racial history of the 1960's in the U.S. that makes the episode not just interesting but relevant.

This reminds me; as enthusiastic as Bashir is to be there, we of course eventually find out that he has a reason to want to be as far from Federation attention as possible. He talked up early in the show how he had his pick of any assignment in Starfleet, and I suspect that "frontier medicine" fantasy of his wasn't purely naivete. I think it was also his way of trying to convince himself that he wanted to be there for what it was rather than for being where it was.

"The Visitor", along with "City on the Edge of Forever" and "The Inner Light", is one of those episodes that I know is held in high regard in general but when I think about it, I convince myself that I may respect it but that I'm not in love with it. And then I actually watch it and it gets to me and I have to admit that it really is as great an episode as I'm told it is.

It's also worth remembering that this list of mine was created while I watched each episode last year, during a highly unstable period. I was in outpatient treatment for depression at the time. I was even hospitalized inpatient for a week 2/3 of the way into Season 7. Watching an episode about elderly Jake Sisko so distraught for so long, and ultimately concluding to end his life to undo the events aboard the Defiant in the past, hit me hard.

So did all the scenes with Ben popping up and trying to keep up with and encourage Jake's life. Ten years ago, I lost twins in a miscarriage, and the idea of somehow being able to pop in on them periodically in an alternate timeline got into my head and it just broke me down. Even typing this now is upsetting. That episode just breaks my heart from start to finish, and at the end, I just wanted to hug someone. It's for affecting me that much that it made #1 on my list.


I loved all three of your picks! God go with you to Voyager. I could only even stomach that show 20 years ago by watching it MST3K-style with a friend.

See now you guys make me want to watch DS9 but I have to watch TNG first! Ugh I can't wait.

I so want/need to get through all of Star Trek soon. I watched it all the time as TNG was in its heyday and DS9 was starting. I fell behind in watching DS9 and decided to wait for all the DVDs and binge it. Well, I had to start with TOS and TAS first, then TNG, and have still not made it past season 2 of TNG and haven't even seen an episode of Enterprise. I'll have to start over now of course, for the third or fourth time.

Just ~29 of the several hundred seasons in my to do piles.

I finished S1 of American Horror Story and must say it got progressively "worse" as the season went on. I didn't care at all for the last couple of episodes and feel there were too many liberties taken with aparitions just for the sake of a story. At this point I don't plan to continue with the series in spite of knowing each season is different.

I started S2 of In Search Of... and so far have found it to be just as entertaining and interesting as it was looooong ago when I first saw the series.

After American Horror Story I needed something lighter so I put in that copy of Trekkies I picked up a couple of months ago. I really enjoyed the segments with the original cast but don't know just how I feel about the segments focusing on "Trekkies." The package blurb says "A hilarious look at the universe's most fervent fans." but I found *nothing* "hilarious" about the fans shown at all. Frankly, I'm not quite sure how I feel about that one.

So to "cleanse the palate" I put in more S2 of ST:TOS.

Trekkies is the single scariest movie I've ever seen. That guy who built a working replica of Pike's wheelchair thing made me uncomfortable in a way only surpassed by paranoid militants.

Booo..! Voyager is not nearly as bad as (many) say. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's arguably more consistent than TNG (particularly given Season 1 and Season 2...), and I'd actually put those three* on a similar pyramid as The Goodies, Monty Python and Not the Nine o'Clock News: DS9 is probably the overall best, but the highs of TNG are higher, while the lows are far, far lower. But Voyager's high points are almost as high as DS9, and their low points are still higher than the lowest of TNG, making it arguably more middling - in both the negative and positive sense of that term.

It handles the Borg much better than TNG. It handles isolation better than DS9. It has more Q. And it has more spies and traitors than anyone else, which is fascinating. It's also very novel to be able to have NEW aliens, rather than new twists on familiar ones.


*Cannot get past the first ghastly episode of ENT, and just haven't found time for TOS yet, either......

It gets a LOT better...


Lucky you. Just pretend it doesn't exist, it's easier that way..