This Blog Will No Longer Be Updated

To catch up with Stephanie S., please head on over to her new blog:

The Right Geek

Open Thread: Now Taking Requests

Apologies for missing my post yesterday; I was battling a killer headache.

Never fear, however: the missed review (of Kal Spriggs' The Fallen Race) will appear back to back with my review of Kenton Kilgore's Lost Dogs next Monday, March 9.

In the meantime, I'd like to give you, my readers, an opportunity to influence the content of this blog. What would you like to see? Which topics should I explore? What books should I read and review? If there is something in particular you're dying to see, please leave a comment below!

An Update

**I've hit peak season and have consequently been absorbed in work-related reading, 

but fear not! I have not forgotten you guys, and I intend to catch up 

on my reviews and commentary by the end of this coming weekend!**

Another Late Notice (Sorry!)

**I got slammed with other responsibilities this week, 

so once again, the Friday review will be delayed. 

I will get to it by Tuesday, Sept. 30, at the latest!
(Note: The Monday Commentary and the
Wednesday Short will also be delayed as a consequence.)**

Quick Notice

**This week's review will be delayed a few days, as I need a little more time to finish the book.

Said review should be up by Sunday, September 21, at the very latest.

Thanks for understanding!**

Notice of Absence

**Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have had to begin my
end-of-summer hiatus earlier than I anticipated.

Blogging at Right Fans will resume on September 5, 2014.

Please see the sidebar for additional scheduling information.**

Admin Notice: Technical Difficulties

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Stephanie's computer broke down last night, so her scheduled post will be delayed.

Many apologies for the inconvenience!

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Admin Note

Due to a death in the family, the blog will be on hiatus until Tuesday when my co-author will resume highlighting the final season of Farscape and will contribute her final thoughts on Deep Space Nine as a bonus!

Easter Weekend Hiatus

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As per usual, we will not be blogging during the Easter weekend.
Regular posting will resume on Monday, April 9.

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Admin Note: The Weekend Reviews Will Be Delayed

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SABR Matt is away this weekend, so his review of last night's Merlin episode and his take on Sunday's installment of The Walking Dead have both been pushed back to Monday and Tuesday. We apologize for the wait.

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Happy New Year!

(Image Credit: NASA/JPL)

Once again, we're taking the weekend off. Posting will resume on Monday, January 2.

Merry Christmas!

We will return with more reviews on Monday, December 26th!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Ratings Compendium

Continuing with our summary of the canons we cover at right fans...I give you the list for Buffy...this franchise is badly biased with most of the lousy episodes in the 4th season and most of the great episodes in 3rd and 5th seasons...but you'll see what I mean below.  I suspect I'll see a number of high ratings appear from the 6th and 7th seasons as well, FWIW.

Tier One: The Elite (A+/A)

1. 5:22 - The Gift (10.0)
2. 5:17 - Forever (9.9)
3. 3:14-15 - Bad Girls / Consequences (9.8)
4. 4:10 - Hush (9.8)
5. 3:18 - Earshot (9.8)
6. 2:17 - Passion (9.8)
7. 3:12 - Helpless (9.7)
8. 5:16 - The Body (9.7)
9. 4:15-16 - This Year's Girl / Who Are You (9.7)
10. 2:13-14 - Surprise / Innocence (9.6)
11. 5:07 - Fool for Love (9.6)
12. 5:21 - The Weight of the Word (9.5)
13. 4:22 - Restless (9.4)
14. 5:12 - Checkpoint (9.4)
15. 2:08 - The Dark Age (9.4)

Tier Two: The Features (A-)

1. 3:09 - The Wish (9.3)
2. 3:02 - Dead Man's Party (9.3)
3. 2:07 - Lie to Me (9.3)
4. 3:21-22 - Graduation Day (9.2)
5. 3:20 - The Prom (9.2)
6. 2:21-22 - Becoming (9.1)
7. 3:13 - The Zeppo (9.1)
8. 5:19 - Tough Love (9.0)

Tier Three: The Best of the Rest (B+)

1. 5:01 - Buffy vs. Dracula (8.9)
2. 5:03 - The Replacement (8.9)
3. 5:05 - No Place Like Home (8.9)
4. 3:08 - Lover's Walk (8.8)
5. 5:10 - Into the Woods (8.8)
6. 5:20 - Spiral (8.7)
7. 1:07 - Angel (8.7)
8. 1:05 - Never Kill a Boy on the First Date (8.7)
9. 3:17 - Choices (8.7)
10. 3:10 - Amends (8.5)
11. 3:16 - Dopplegangland (8.5)
12. 5:13 - Blood Ties (8.5)
13. 5:08 - Shadow (8.5)

Tier Four: The Solid (B/B-)

1. 3:03 - Hope, Faith and Trick (8.3)
2. 6:03 - Afterlife (8.3)
3. 4:06 - Wild at Heart (8.2)
4. 2:09-10 - What's My Line (8.0)
5. 2:03 - School Hard (8.0)
6. 5:06 - Family (7.8)
7. 6:01-02 - Bargaining (7.7)
8. 3:07 - Revelations (7.7)
9. 5:18 - Intervention (7.7)
10. 1:11 - Out of Mind, Out of Sight (7.6)
11. 2:16 - Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered (7.5)
12. 6:05 - Life Serial (7.5)
13. 1:10 - Nightmares (7.5)
14. 1:12 - Prophecy Girl (7.5)
15. 6:06 - All the Way (7.5)
16. 1:01-02 - Welcome to the Hellmouth / The Harvest (7.4)
17. 3:06 - Band Candy (7.4)

Tier Five: The Average (C)

1. 4:09 - Something Blue (7.3)
2. 2:19 - I Only Have Eyes for You (7.2)
3. 5:15 - I Was Made to Love You (7.2)
4. 2:06 - Halloween (7.2)
5. 1:04 - Teacher's Pet (7.0)
6. 6:04 - Flooded (7.0)
7. 5:02 - Real Me (7.0)
8. 2:15 - Phases (6.8)
9. 1:03 - The Witch (6.8)
10. 3:17 - Enemies (6.7)
11. 5:14 - Crush (6.7)
12. 4:02 - Living Conditions (6.7)
13. 4:11 - Doomed (6.7)
14. 3:01 - Anne (6.6)
15. 1:06 - The Pack (6.5)
16. 2:12 - Bad Eggs (6.5)

Tier Six: The Weak (D)

1. 1:09 - The Puppet Show (6.3)
2. 4:13 - The 'I' in Team (6.3)
3. 5:09 - Listening to Fear (6.2)
4. 5:11 - Triangle (6.2)
5. 4:17 - Superstar (6.0)
6. 2:02 - Some Assembly Required (6.0)
7. 4:14 - Goodbye Iowa (6.0)
8. 4:08 - Pangs (6.0)
9. 3:05 - The Homecoming (6.0)
10. 2:18 - Killed By Death (6.0)
11. 4:18 - Where the Wild Things Are (6.0)
12. 2:04 - Inca Mummy Girl (5.8)
13. 4:01 - The Freshman (5.5)
14. 3:11 - Gingerbread (5.5)
15. 1:04 - I Robot, You Jane (5.4)
16. 4:04 - Fear Itself (5.3)
17. 4:19 - New Moon Rising (5.0)
18. 4:12 - A New Man (5.0)

Tier Seven: The Insulting (F)

1. 2:20 - Go Fish (4.5)
2. 4:20-41 - The Yoko Factor / Primeval (4.3)
3. 5:04 - Out of Mind (4.0)
4. 2:05 - Reptile Boy (4.0)
5. 2:11 - Ted (4.0)
6. 4:03 - The Harsh Light of Day (4.0)
7. 4:05 - Beer Bad (3.0)
8. 4:07 - The Initiative (2.7)
9. 2:01 - When She Was Bad (2.0)
10. 3:04 - Beauty and the Beasts (1.7)

Fun to break these down by season since Buffy moves in seasons with one major plot dominating each year.

• Year (T7 - T6 - T5 - T4 - T3 - T2 - T1)
• Yr1  (00 - 02 - 03 - 05 - 02 - 00 - 00)
• Yr2  (04 - 03 - 04 - 04 - 00 - 03 - 04)
• Yr3  (01 - 02 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 06 - 04)
• Yr4  (05 - 09 - 03 - 01 - 00 - 00 - 04)
• Yr5  (01 - 02 - 03 - 02 - 07 - 01 - 06)

So in Year one, the episodes all gathered around average, in year two, the show was very uneven but showing potential, in year three, the season was HEAVILY weighted toward the well above average quality episode, whereas year four was the reverse, despite continuing to be brilliant when it was good and in year five, a strong body of well above average episodes is highlighted by the best material the show ever produced.

Interesting...

Babylon 5 - Ratings Compendium

Tier One - The Elite (A/A+)

1. 3:16/3:17 - War Without End (9.8)
1. 4:5 - The Long Night (9.8)
1. 5:18 - The Fall of Centauri Prime (9.8)
2. 2:9 - The Coming of Shadows (9.7)
2. 4:3 - The Summoning (9.7)
2. 4:15 - No Surrender, No Retreat (9.7)
3. 3:15 - Interludes and Examinations (9.6)

Tier Two - The Features (A-)

1. 2:20 - The Long, Twilight Struggle (9.3)
1. 3:4 - Passing Through Gethsemane (9.3)
1. 3:6 - Dust to Dust (9.3)
1. 3:10 - Severed Dreams (9.3)
1. 3:12 - Sic Transit Vir (9.3)
1. 3:20 - And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place (9.3)
1. 4:2 - Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi? (9.3)
1. 5:2 - The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari (9.3)
2. 2:16 - In the Shadow of Z'Ha'Dum (9.2)
2. 4:1 - The Hour of the Wolf (9.2)
2. 5:22 - Sleeping in Light (9.2)
3. 1:22 - Chrysalis (9.1)
3. 3:9 - Point of No Return (9.1)
4. 1:13 - Signs and Portents (9.0)
4. 2:3 - The Geometry of Shadows(9.0)
4. 2:15 - And Now for a Word (9.0)
4. 2:22 - The Fall of Night (9.0)
4. 3:22 - Z'Ha'Dum (9.0)
4. 4:8 - The Illusion of Truth (9.0)
4. 5:16 - And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder (9.0)

Tier Three - The Strongest of the Rest (B+)

1. 2:12 - Acts of Sacrifice (8.9)
2. 1:18/1:19 - A Voice in the Wilderness (8.8)
2. 2:21 - Comes the Inquisitor (8.8)
3. 3:8 - Messages from Earth (8.7)
3. 3:14 - Ship of Tears (8.7)
4. 3:3 - A Day in the Strife (8.5)
4. 4:6 - Into the Fire (8.5)
4. 5:14 - Meditations on the Abyss (8.5)

Tier Four - The Solid (B/B-)

1. 4:13 - Rumors, Bargains, and Lies (8.3)
1. 4:14 - Moments of Transition (8.3)
1. 4:17 - The Face of the Enemy (8.3)
1. 5:12 - The Ragged Edge (8.3)
2. 2:7 - Soul Mates (8.2)
2. 5:17 - Movements of Fire and Shadow (8.2)
3. 3:17 - Knives (8.0)
3. 4:4 - Falling Towards Apotheosis (8.0)
3. 4:11 - Lines of Communication (8.0)
3. 4:18 - Intersections in Real Time (8.0)
3. 5:11 - Day of the Dead (8.0)
4. 1:20 - Babylon Squared (7.8)
4. 4:9 - Atonement (7.8)
5. 1:1 - Midnight on the Firing Line (7.7)
5. 3:2 - Convictions (7.7)
5. 3:11 - Ceremonies of Light and Dark (7.7)
5. 3:13 - A Late Delivery from Avalon (7.7)
5. 5:8 - In the Kingdom of the Blind (7.7)
6. 2:13 - Hunter, Prey (7.5)
6. 5:5 - Learning Curve (7.5)
6. 5:13 - The Corps Is Mother, The Corps Is Father (7.5)

Tier Five - The Average (C)

1. 1:10 - Believers (7.3)
1. 1:17 - Legacies (7.3)
1. 2:8 - A Race Through Dark Places (7.3)
1. 2:14 - There All the Honor Lies (7.3)
1. 2:18 - Confessions and Lamentations (7.3)
1. 3:21 - Shadow Dancing (7.3)
1. 4:7 - Epiphanies (7.3)
1. 4:19 - Between the Darkness and the Light (7.3)
1. 5:9 - A Tragedy of Telepaths (7.3)
2. 1:8 - And the Sky Full of Stars (7.2)
2. 4:10 - Racing Mars (7.2)
2. 5:15 - Darkness Ascending (7.2)
3. 1:5 - The Parliament of Dreams (7.0)
3. 2:6 - A Spider in the Web (7.0)
3. 5:19 - Wheel of Fire (7.0)
4. 1:6 - Mind War (6.9)
5. 1:9 - Deathwalker (6.8)
5. 3:1 - Matters of Honor (6.8)
5. 4:12 - Conflicts of Interest (6.8)
5. 5:7 - Secrets of the Soul (6.8)
6. 1:3 - Born to the Purple (6.7)
6. 1:16 - Eyes (6.7)
6. 2:4 - A Distant Star (6.7)
6. 2:11 - All Alone in the Night (6.7)
6. 3:7 - Exogenesis (6.7)
6. 4:16 - The Exercise of Vital Powers (6.7)
6. 5:1 - No Compromises (6.7)
7. 2:1 - Points of Departure (6.5)
7. 3:19 - Divided Loyalties (6.5)
7. 5:3 - The Paragon of Animals (6.5)
7. 5:6 - Strange Relations (6.5)
7. 5:10 - Phoenix Rising (6.5)
7. 5:20 - Objects in Motion (6.5)
7. 5:21 - Objects at Rest (6.5)

Tier Six - The Weak (D)

1. 1:21 - The Quality of Mercy (6.3)
1. 3:18 - Walkabout (6.3)
2. 1:12 - By Any Means Necessary (6.2)
2. 4:20 - End Game (6.2)
3. 3:5 - Voices of Authority (6.0)
3. 4:21 - Rising Star (6.0)
4. The Gathering (5.7)
4. 1:7 - The War Prayer (5.7)
4. 1:15 - Grail (5.7)
5. 1:2 - Soul Hunter (5.3)
5. 1:11 - Survivors (5.3)
5. 2:2 - Revelations (5.3)
5. 2:10 - GROPOS (5.3)
5. 3:19 - Grey 17 Is Missing (5.3)
6. 2:5 - The Long Dark (5.0)

Tier Seven - The Insulting (F)

1. 4:22 - The Deconstruction of Falling Stars (4.8)
2. 1:4 - Infection (4.7)
2. 1:14 - TKO (4.7)
3. 5:4 - A View from the Gallery (4.0)

Are there patterns here beyond the obvious fact that I like the Centauri/Narn plot best? I'll leave it to you, the reader, to figure said trends out. ;)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Ratings Compendium

Because Blogger is evil and periodically wrecks your data and posts for no good reason, we lost our big ratings summary post detailing (with links to each post) our considered reviews for each canon series, movie and book we've tackled to date.  We have therefore decided that to decentralize the process makes the most sense and will be posting individual ratings guides for each canon we cover.  This is the guide for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  We encourage users to click on our keyword cloud.  Using that, you'll find every post in each canon, in order, if you'd like to read our reviews for a given episode.  For each canon we will list the episodes not chronologically, but in the order of highest to lowest rated.


Tier One - The Elite (A/A+)

1. 6:19 - In the Pale Moonlight (9.9)/7:8 - The Siege of AR-558 (9.9)
2. 1:18 - Duet (9.8)
3. 6:02 - Rocks and Shoals (9.8)
4. 4:02 - The Visitor (9.7)
5. 2:08 - Necessary Evil (9.6)
6. 5:10 - Rapture (9.6)
7. 2:01-03 - The Homecoming / The Circle / The Siege (9.5)
8. 6:04 - Behind the Lines (9.5)
9. 5:04 - Nor the Battle to the Strong (9.4)
10. 2:22 - The Wire (9.4)
11. 3:20-21 - Improbable Cause / The Die is Cast (9.4)
12. 4:16 - Accession (9.4)

Tier Two - The Features (A-)

1. 5:22 - Children of Time (9.3)
2. 5:18 - Business as Usual (9.3)
3. 4:23 - The Quickening (9.3)
4. 5:06 - Trials and Tribbelations (9.3)
5. 5:25 - In the Cards (9.3)
6. 5:14-15 - In Purgatory's Shadow / By Inferno's Light (9.3)
7. 3:06 - Second Skin (9.2)
8. 6:01 - A Time to Stand (9.2)
9. 5:11 - The Darkness and the Light (9.2)
10. 3:21 - Explorers (9.1)
11. 5:13 - For the Uniform (9.1)
12. 3:11-12 - Past Tense (9.0)
13. 4:09 - Our Man Bashir (9.0)
14. 5:26 - Call to Arms (9.0)
15. 6:07 - You Are Cordially Invited (9.0)

Tier Three - The Strongest of the Rest (B+)

1. 2:19 - Blood Oath (8.9)
2. 2:26 - The Jem'Hadar (8.9)
3. 4:22 - To the Death (8.9)
4. 5:21 - Soldiers of the Empire (8.9)
5. 4:18 - Hard Time (8.8)
6. 4:21 - For the Cause (8.8)
7. 2:20-21 - The Maquis (8.8)
8. 5:02 - The Ship (8.8)
9. 2:14 - Whispers (8.8)
10. 6:14 - One Little Ship (8.8)
11. 4:14 - The Sons of Mogh (8.8)
12. 6:17 - Wrongs Darker than Death or Night (8.8)
13. 1:19 - In the Hands of the Prophets (8.7)
14. 5:16 - Doctor Bashir, I Presume (8.7)
15. 4:24 - Body Parts (8.7)
16. 1:14 - Progress (8.7)
17. 5:09 - The Ascent (8.7)
18. 4:06 - Starship Down (8.7)
19. 1:02 - Past Prologue (8.7)
20. 3:15 - Destiny (8.7)
21. 4:10-11 - Homefront / Paradise Lost (8.7)
22. 2:25 - Tribunal (8.5)
23. 5:12 - The Begotten (8.5)
24. 3:01-02 - The Search (8.5)

Tier Four - The Solid (B/B-)

1. 2:11 - Rivals (8.4)
2. 4:04 - Indiscretion (8.4)
3. 1:16 - The Forsaken (8.3)
4. 5:19 - Ties of Blood and Water (8.3)
5. 4:13 - Return to Grace (8.3)
6. 2:24 - The Collaborator (8.3)
7. 1:01 - Emissary (8.1)
8. 6:05-06 - Favor the Bold / Sacrifice of Angels (8.0)
9. 6:18 - Inquisition (8.0)
10. 4:12 - Crossfire (8.0)
11. 1:12 - Battle Lines (8.0)
12. 3:03 - House of Quark (7.8)
13. 4:01 - The Way of the Warrior (7.8)
14. 2:13 - Armageddon Game (7.8)
15. 6:16 - Change of Heart (7.7)
16. 4:25 - Broken Link (7.6)
17. 4:03 - Hypocratic Oath (7.5)
18. 2:07 - Rules of Acquisition (7.5)
19. 3:26 - The Adversary (7.5)
20. 1:07 - Dax (7.5)
21. 1:13 - The Storyteller (7.4)

Tier Five - The Average (C)

1. 6:11 - Waltz (7.3)
2. 1:06 - Q-Less (7.3)
3. 4:20 - The Muse (7.3)
4. 3:24 - Shakaar (7.2)
5. 3:25 - Facets (7.2)
6. 5:03 - Looking for Par'mok in All the Wrong Places (7.0)
7. 6:10 - The Magnificent Ferengi (7.0)
8. 3:07 - Civil Defense (7.0)
9. 5:01 - Apocalypse Rising (7.0)
10. 3:14 - Heart of Stone (6.8)
11. 6:03 - Sons and Daughters (6.8)
12. 3:13 - Life Support (6.8)
13. 1:09 - Move Along Home (6.8)
14. 2:12 - The Alternate (6.7)
15. 2:16 - Shadowplay (6.7)
16. 3:07 - Defiant (6.7)
17. 3:17 - Visionary (6.7)
18. 4:05 - Rejoined (6.7)
19. 4:17 - Rules of Engagement (6.7)
20. 5:23 - Blaze of Glory (6.7)
21. 6:15 - Honor Among Thieves (6.7)
22. 2:18 - Profit and Loss (6.5)
23. 2:04 - Invasive Procedures (6.4)
24. 2:17 - Playing God (6.4)

Tier Six - The Weak (D)

1. 1:10 - The Nagus (6.3)
2. 4:07 - Little Green Men (6.3)
3. 6:12 - Who Mourns for Morn (6.3)
4. 2:05 - Cardassians (6.3)
5. 3:04 - Equilibrium (6.3)
6. 1:03 - A Man Alone (6.3)
7. 1:08 - The Passenger (6.3)
8. 4:15 - Bar Association (6.2)
9. 5:08 - Things Past (6.2)
10. 2:09 - Second Sight (6.2)
11. 1:15 - If Wishes Were Horses (6.0)
12. 6:08 - Resurrection (6.0)
13. 3:06 - The Abandoned (6.0)
14. 1:04 - Babel (6.0)
15. 1:17 - Dramatis Personae (5.7)
16. 6:20 - His Way (5.5)
    
17. 5:17 - A Simple Investigation (5.5)
18. 1:05 - Captive Pursuit (5.5)
19. 3:18 - Distant Voices (5.5)
20. 6:09 - Statistical Probabilities (5.3)
21. 1:11 - The Vortex (5.3)
22. 4:19 - Shattered Mirror (5.3)
23. 5:24 - Empok Nor (5.0)

Tier Seven - The Insulting (F)

1. 4:08 - The Sword of Kahless (4.8)
2. 3:19 - Through the Looking Glass (4.7)
3. 2:15 - Paradise (4.5)
4. 6:13 - Far Beyond the Stars (4.3)
5. 2:10 - Sanctuary (4.0)
6. 3:10 - Fascination (4.0)
7. 3:23 - Family Business (4.0)
8. 3:16 - Prophet Motive (3.0)
9. 5:20 - Ferengi Love Songs (2.0)
10. 3:08 - Meridian (2.0)
11. 2:06 - Melora (1.3)
12. 5:07 - Let He Who Is Without Sin (1.3)

Just for fun...I calculated 19-episode running average ratings to see where DS9 had the least and most momentum as we at RightFans see it.  The average hit rock bottom in the third season while we were gagging our way through Prophet Motive (3:16) and hit its peak while we were enjoying Trials and Tribbelations and again during Ties of Blood and Water.  So if anyone asks you when the golden age of DS9 was...you can tell 'em...late 4th, 5th and early 6th seasons!

Admin Note on the Blog Schedule

With so much new content arriving at the same time, we feel it necessary to leave a brief description of the blog schedule going forward.

Barring schedule changes caused by travel or illness, this is when readers can expect commentary on each fandom:

SUNDAY: Grimm (SABR Matt)
MONDAY: Farscape (Stephanie S)
TUESDAY: The Walking Dead (SABR Matt)
WEDNESDAY: Terra Nova (Stephanie S)
THURSDAY: Once Upon a Time (SABR Matt)
FRIDAY: House (Stephanie S)
SATURDAY: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (alternating authorship)

Other fandoms:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Stargate SG1
Babylon 5
Star Trek: The Next Generation

Are temporarily on hold with the exception of weeks during which one or more of these new canons is not aired.  This is not a reflection on our opinion of those other canons...I assure you, we love Buffy and Stargate and TNG as much as anything else we cover.  We are putting Buffy on hold to give us time to properly prepare a musical tribute to its musical episode "Once More with Feeling," B5 is on hold because fifth season is the least important year of the franchise and we have plenty of time to wrap it up at a later date.  TNG was being used to fill gaps in the schedule...a fuller rating of the show will come once DS9 is completed.  And Stargate will be the first fandom we use when one of the new series goes on hiatus.

We are favoring Farscape because we're in its best season and want to continue with that for now and we are favoring DS9 because we are nearly done with our very first canon and reaching the final war arc, which we've been waiting to comment on since this blog opened in August of 2009.  We appreciate your patience if you are a reader for one of the classic canons currently on hold.  That content will return throughout the year as time permits.

Thanks!

Dragon*Con Note:

A full report on my Dragon*Con 2011 experience will be posted sometime tomorrow night -- but believe me, it's going to be worth the wait:

• One, I need to comment on an incident of radical leftwing what-the-frellery in which one of our more conservative literary guests was the target of a vile and nonsensical insult.
• Two, I need to complete write-ups for the most thought-provoking panel discussions I've attended (as either an audience member or a participant).
• And three, I actually have pictures this time! (I loaned my camera out to a friend who had more time to people-watch.)

Do stay tuned...

Quick Admin Note

*****

I am currently on vacation, and SABR Matt's house has lost power due to Irene. Therefore, our usual posting schedule may be disrupted over the next week.

*****

SF Debris: The Case for Genocide Against Phlox & Archer

SABR Matt is at a professional conference, and I went on a pilgrimage this weekend, so I'm a little behind on our reviews. My apologies.

The schedule for this week will be as follows:

Farscape 1:12 - Rhapsody in Blue - Monday
V (2009) 2:3 - Laid Bare - Tuesday
B5 3:14 - Ship of Tears - Wednesday
House 7:10 - Carrot or Stick - Thursday
Farscape 1:13 - The Flax - Friday
DS9 5:4 - Nor the Battle to the Strong - Saturday (SABR Matt returns.)

I presume that SABR Matt will post two SG1 reviews next week to make up for the one we will miss this week.

In the meantime, here is a link to an article written in 2009 by the inimitable SF Debris regarding my least favorite ENT episode, Dear Doctor:

The Case For Genocide Against Phlox And Archer

"Nature" in this context, is for all intents and purposes no different than the word "God." It presumes that a decision has been reached, and mere mortals shouldn't interfere in it. Phlox's opinion is that they let "nature make the decision." This is an issue of metaphysics, but for simplicity it should boil down to this: if there is the possibility of a plan, and we are not told of what our purpose in that plan should be, and we have free will, then we have no recourse but to do what we would do even if there was no plan. What other choice would there be? We can no more know when we should act than when we shouldn't, nor could we know what natural events we should interfere with than those we should not (because all things not caused by us are natural, thus a disease is natural). If a doctor had found a cure for AIDS, but refused to give it because he felt nature had selected it as a means to keep homosexuals in check, would we as a society praise him for his choice? For all we know, the doctor could be correct, since we do not know "nature's" plan, yet I doubt many would be advancing that position.

If "nature" then does not have a plan, but is simply a descriptive human term applied to an abstract, than there is also no reason for us not to take action. All species interact with the natural world in one way or another, and those which are natural are not necessarily good. Some ants, by their nature, enslave other ants. It's natural, yet we as human beings see it as a moral evil - some go so far as to not wanting to use inferior species for our own benefits! Yet "nature" endorses slavery and exploitation. We instead have a moral code that is not in concert with that. In my original review, I unwittingly enraged someone by saying that evolution states that a man with bad legs or a with diabetes dies. What I was attempting to show was that while that may be what evolution states, that's not what humans accept. If a man has bad legs, we do not allow him to die of starvation, we interfere in the natural events and provide him with leg braces or a chair so that he can care for himself. If a man is diabetic, we do not let him just die, but provide him with medicine and treatment so that he can continue to live a healthy and productive life. We do not embrace nature, we resist it because we believe it is the moral thing to do, and we are rewarded by the presence of those others to enrich our society.

Whatever nature has set in motion is not justification to allow it to continue if it is in conflict with our morals. If that were true, nothing short of human-induced physical disability should ever be treated by a doctor, because the rest are all natural, from an allergic reaction to a birth complication to Wilson's Disease.

...

Star Trek: Enterprise was a prequel series within the franchise. It would be intriguing to find out what became of all of this. Imagine the damage if, say, the Romulans cured them of their condition and armed them with the knowledge that Starfleet was content to let them painfully die out... I don't think they'd be complimenting them on their compassion.

Thanks to that final line, I once again wish to commit fic.

Mid-season hiati (hiatuses?) and our schedule.

As House and SGU are hitting their mid-season hiatuses (that sounds awkward...LOL), our blog schedule will be somewhat reduced for a time.

Monday: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Tuesday: Babylon 5
Wednesday: Stargate SG-1
Thursday: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Friday: Farscape Friday (remember that add campaign?)
Saturday: Lit or Movie Review
Sunday: Debuting - Star Trek: The Next Generation Cheers and Jeers*

*I will cover these ones with commentary from my co-author for particularly memorable feature-worthy submissions. For the time being, I feel that doing the entire TNG series is too big a project...we will go back and fill in the gaps when DS9 is concluded, but I have a lot (good and bad) to say about many of the specific episodes. So I'm going to cover the good ones and the bad ones and skip over the really boring ones where I've got less to say (so...we're probably only going to do like four of the episodes from the first two seasons...LOL). I'll mark them as either Cheers or Jeers and then rate the episode as with all other blog content.