Thursday, January 4, 2024

NCIS: Redux -- aka "I told you so !"

Hi Alex,

This letter is kind of weird. In one way, it's me coming full circle and yet its also things moving forward. Back in February 2023, I made a case about how NCIS was showing that CBS was in trouble. 

I could recap the whole thing, or I could just put in the link. Yeah, I'm going for the link. It's less work. So here it is...

NCIS Showing That CBS is in Trouble

Okay, I'll put in a bit of recap. I took a good, hard look at the NCIS-verse* and how CBS was trimming the fat off it. (*The NCIS-verse consists of JAG, the NCIS franchise, Scorpion and the Lenkov-verse shows.) In the months since, stuff has happened so, let's move on to...

The Current Mess

NCIS: Los Angeles is gone and so is Magnum PI. In fact, Magnum PI was sort of gone for quite a while. The show was recorded during the first half of 2023. But the WGA and SAG-AFRA strikes happened, so the network sat on the finished episodes for months. This was all them trying to keep the 'new' content going for a while. Which brings us to the next issue, namely...

NCIS: Sydney...a show with only eight episodes. I've heard people complain about NCIS: Sydney's characters. But IMHO the real problem with Sydney is not the characters, it's that the whole thing feels like less like a season and more like a production block that was quickly shoved out the door to plug the hole (in the programming) left by the strikes. 

The folks at CBS didn't even bother to give the show it's own theme song. Instead, they simply remixed the original show's theme. Combined with the lack of cameos, the production design and the low number of the episodes, it makes NCIS: Sydney feel cheap. Which is a shame, because the characters have potential.

It's not actors fault that CBS is broke and the people running it are such misers. Also don't blame the Sydney folks for the cancellation of LA. CBS contracts run 7 years. In order to given LA a season 15, CBS would have had to renegotiate. Had they done so, they would NOT have green-lit just season 15, LA would have been locked in until season 21. Which is my transition to the other shows...

NCIS

...Starting with the mother show. Season 21 was sort of a given. Because there is no need to renegotiate. The current seven-year block doesn't end until Season 21's final episode. It's Season 22 where things get sticky. Can CBS afford to keep the show going until Season 28 ? 

Especially if the rumors about Paramount's upcoming merger/sale with/to Universal are true. And then there is the option of Paramount/CBS wanting to buy Alex Kurtzman out. The money for that would have to come from some place. And even if the rumors are all a bunch of hogwash, making seven seasons of television is not cheap. Unless you frak them over like they did with Sydney. 

Finally, there is the tragic loss of David McCallum. No matter what changed, Ducky gave the show that magical sparkle. (I would have loved to see Ducky interact with Rosie on Sydney - two ME's swapping notes - something that will now never come to pass.) With loss of McCallum, NCIS is facing hard(er) times. Now, time to talk about...

NCIS: Hawaii

Season 1 and 2 are in the bag, with Season 3 on the way. The thing is...the best case scenario for Hawaii is a repeat of what happened to New Orleans. Meaning the show gets seven seasons and then CBS pulls the plug. The worst case scenario is season 3 and then...poof ! 

As for LL Cool J coming over for Season 3, IMHO that's a good thing. I'm hoping that Sam Hanna joining the fun will bring over LA fans who have not been watching Hawaii. And LA season 14 left some plots unresolved. Maybe Sam's presence will allow for these threads to be brought over and tied up. 

Oh, and Steve McGarrett still owns Sam a steak dinner. And maybe that will open the door to other cameos...

That's all I have.

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (aka Commander Nash)

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Ding, that's two !

Maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there, but I get the feeling the MCU and Whoniverse might be connected. So far, all I had to go on was fact that the MCU has Celestials and the 60th will see the Doc facing off again the Celestial Toymaker. But a quick use of Google reveals that the Star Beast started life as a comic. A comic written by.....Marvel UK

Yep, Beep the Meep is a Marvel character. So, what more (possible) links are hiding in the wings ? Keep your eyes open...

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (aka Commander Nash)

Saturday, October 14, 2023

Connecting the MCU to Dr Who....

 ...Is the answer hiding to plain sight ?

A while back, there were a couple articles floating around explaining the (possible) connection between the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Whoniverse...

Screen rant's Article (22 July 2022)

We've got this Covered's Article (23 November 2022) 

However....in the months since these came out, we learned that Neil Patrick Harris will be playing the Toymaker in the 60th anniversary specials. But here's the thing.....the character is actually called the Celestial Toymaker. Combine this with the fact that before the Time War, the Time Lords could travel between universes as easily as you and I can change socks. 

And Ego was making babies with any species he could. So, why not some lovely Time Lord/Lady ? If the Toymaker is actually a Time Lord-Celestial hybrid (and Starlord's half-brother) it would explain a thing or two. 

The Time Lord half of his DNA could give him the capacity of regeneration, explaining why the Toymaker looks different now. And the Celestial half would make him more powerful then the base model Time Lord.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if it was Kang the Conqueror's Earth 5556 counterpart that turned the Division into a bunch of universe destroying, power hungry schmucks. Not openly, of course, but pulling strings from the shadows....

Anyway, those are my thoughts,

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (aka Commander Nash) 

Bits and Pieces Vol. 13

 Hi Alex,

How are things going on the island ? Things have been well....wet...over here. You see, back in July, we had LOTS of rain. More then the local sewers could handle. So the water had to go somewhere...

...which turned out to be my living room. Twice. And my floor didn't like that one bit. So now three quarters of it has to be replaced. And my landlord(s) have decided to replace my bathroom. Which is great...

...But together with the floor replacement, means that my place is headed for a major remodel. Said remodel is taking a lot of preparation, which is why I haven't around to writing to you.

The Good News

It's not all bad news, however. The remodel is giving me the opportunity to deal with several issues that have been hiding in the woodwork. Another thing the remodel kind of forced me to do, was to clean up the hard drive on my computer. I had let some files pile up and I needed to do some major reorganizing. Which I finally got around to now.

And back in September, my American friend Rick made another trip to the Netherlands. Together with two other friends, we visited the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. And it was great. We enjoyed the paintings (Vincent sure knew how to paint) and had lunch afterwards. Rick then headed to London and met another friend here. 

So there has been good stuff as well,

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (aka Commander Nash)

Saturday, July 15, 2023

The Darkness in Picard S3...

 ....That Nobody Is Talking About

The Borg have been defeated for once and for all ! Yay ! Long live the Federation. But....at what price did this victory come ? Yes, the Borg Collective is evil. Yes, they were planning to wipe out Earth and needed to be stopped. And the queen was an insane (insert whatever curse you think is best here). Picard and crew did what needed to be done. It's not them I'm doubting, but I think the situation is nowhere as black-and-white as it appears at first glance. 

Let's talk about a man called Fred....Fred is just a random guy living on random planet in the Delta Quadrant. Then one day the Borg roll up to ruin everybody's day by assimilating them. Including Fred. He loses his family, he loses his friends, he his loses his mind. And then the neurolytic pathogen ruins the collective. Let us look at the possibilities for Fred.

  1. If he's really unlucky, he dies a horrible death and then gets eaten by Queen. Only to be briefly revived as a mindless cyber zombie when Picard and co visit. He is then put out of his misery when the Borg ship explodes.
  2. The Pathogen simply kills him.
  3. He gets stuck in regeneration mode, like the Cube seen in Let Sleeping Borg Lie. And then...
    1. Because of people's fear of the Collective, nobody rescues him...ever.
    2. Somebody comes across his Cube and he is given the 'Icheb Treatment / aka dissected alive for his implants".
    3. Even if he get rescued by somebody who doesn't Icheb him, where's he going to go ? As I said above...friends, family, gone. And what about his homeworld ? Even if the Collective didn't total it, who knows how long Fred has been in the Hive Mind. Is his world still there ? Has it been taken over by somebody else ?....

Which takes us away from Fred and back to the bigger picture. As established by Voyager, Borg Space is big. And like any other nation, the Borg have neighbors. Neighbors who are going to figure out that the Collective is falling apart. And try to conquer their space, either by colonization or warfare. 

A situation that is going to lead to the death of innocents drones like Fred. Bloody wars between these states. Yes, the Federation has won, but the Delta Quadrant is burning. And let's not forget there is also the fact that everybody who was taken over, now probably has PTSD. Not mention the elephant in the room...

Where did this pathogen come from ? Neurolytic Pathogens don't exactly grow on trees. And even if it could be made in the Sickbay of the USS Voyager, I doubt The Doctor would allow it. Yes, he was part of the developing of the nanite weapon they used against Species 8472. But that was with the galaxy at stake. And Voyager's goal was not genocide. In fact, this was a major source of tension between Janeway and the Borg.

The only other option is that Admiral Janeway brought it with her from 2404 to 2378. But it doesn't answer the question of how she got it. Replicators don't make lifeforms. Somebody had to grow it. Somebody rather ruthless. Somebody know for attempting genocide by virus....

Basically, the whole thing screams Section 31. And where they failed when they tried to wipe out the Founders, this time they succeeded.

That's all I....No wait, it was.   But after sleeping on it for a night, it's not anymore. (Short) RANT ALARM !! 

What about the Borg splinter states ? The Borg Cooperative from the Voyager episode Unity and the Unimatrix Zero, whose former members were liberated. Are they gone as well ? Will Section 31 use the pathogen to wipe the Cooperative out to prevent the rise of new Collective !? Will Starfleet just stand for that ?

Moving on.....I know that some people consider Prodigy and Lower Decks non-canon. But based on the upcoming SNW / Lower Deck crossover, the folks running the show(s) think differently. Which brings us to "Let Sleeping Borg Lie". 

The USS Protostar crew managed to get out. But they had the luck of having a Medusan along for the ride. So how many of these dormant Borg ships are out there, waiting to ruin somebody's day ? These ships are basically landmines, ready to restart the Collective if whoever boards them messes up. 

In short, it's a huge frakking, bloody mess. And it's the Federation's fault. They needed to get back to the Delta Quadrant and get to cleaning it up. Or as Commander Adama would put it...

"You cannot play God, then wash you hands of the things you've created. Sooner or later, you can't hide from the things you've done anymore."

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

How I would fix NuTrek - Part 3

Part 2 was about Star Trek: Legacy and Star Trek: Equinox and how they fit into the picture. That said, I totally forgot another reason making for Star Trek: Equinox, namely....the Enterprises ! That's right, plural. 

Not only could Equinox show what wasn't Worf's fault - aka whatever happened to the Enterprise-E - it could also show the launch of Enterprise-F and fill in some of her story. IMHO the Enterprise-F got a pretty raw deal in Season 3 of Picard. Equinox could put a bandage on this. But now, let's move on to...

Clearing the Air

I am not a fan of either Star Trek: Discovery or Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The problem is not the actors, who are doing


the best with the materials they are given. The problem is that the writers of these shows do not know how to write science fiction. And that the producers are not fans of Star Trek. They don't understand the franchise and the philosophy behind it. 

This results in negative, depressing and dumb Trek. Another problem is a lack of in-story professionalism from the characters. In the every Discovery episode, somebody suffers a breakdown because of their 'oh, so, tragic background.' Let me put it this way....

...If this happened on NCIS, would you believe that Alden Parker and his team are professional, FLETC trained Federal Agents ? Or if CSI: Vegas was written this way. Would you believe that these are professional Forensic scientists ?  

I wouldn't. And on Discovery and SNW I don't believe it either. Meaning that I simply can't help thinking...

~These people wouldn't make it through Starfleet Academy in a million years.~ Any instructor worth their salt would kick them out in the first year. But again, it's not the actors fault. It's the producers and the writers mucking it up. So I would replace them and then go ahead with....

Trek of the Past

Set aboard the USS New Jersey - which was seen in the fleet museum in Picard Season 3 - this show would run parallel to TOS. Besides confirming that Star Trek: Enterprise is part of the repaired timeline, this show would expand the TOS era 'sideways'. 

Another thing this show could do, is salvage characters from both Discovery 1.0 and SNW. Because the timeline was repaired, you not be tied to any of the (tragic) backgrounds provided by those shows. Nor the events that took place in them. 

The crew of the New Jersey would be a mix of Discovery and SNW characters, showing where these people were supposed to end up. (And why should the actors take the fall for the producers and writers incompetence.) I would also add several characters - such as Yeoman Colt, Doctor Boyce and the real Captain Lorca - that have fallen through the cracks in the Disco-verse.

What Disco 2.0 could also do, is fix inconsistencies that have come up over the years. A famous example is Kirk saying that there are only twelve Constitution-class ships in Tomorrow is Yesterday. That episode takes place on 3113.2 from Kirk's point of view. 

I would start Disco 2.0 on Stardate 3115.0 with a shot of the New Jersey in dry-dock, having just received a minor update. (Explaining why it looked a bit different then the classic Connie in Picard.) 

Besides the New Jersey, the shot would show several other vessels in other docks, including several other Constitution-class ships under construction. To show that this is the repaired timeline, I would not use any of the Discovery designs. Instead, I would use Star Fleet Technical Manual designs.

One of the issues with the Discovery designs is that some of them were reused in Picard. By replacing them in the TOS era, this is fixed and Picard is made more solid. 

Another thing about these designs is that the writer of the manual - Franz Joseph - was smart enough to establish that these ships all share layouts. The bridge, main engineering, etc, are all the same. Basically, it's the same trick the SNW tried with the Sombra-class, but dialed up to 12. 

All of these designs - Hermes, Saladin, Federation, Constitution and Federation class - could therefore be represented by one set of...well, sets. Not to mention the merchandising opportunity. And by having several Constitution-class ships under construction, the Constitution-class inflation could be taken down a notch or two. 

And that's just one fix Disco 2.0 could pull off. 

Conclusion

Well, Alex, this was a long one. I was planning to do some concluding thoughts here, but they ended up in the Clearing the Air part of this entry. So, take care and...

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

Monday, July 3, 2023

How I would fix NuTrek - Part 2

Step 4: Clarity and expansion

Part 1 ended with Star Trek: Legacy preparing for and resetting the timeline. But now comes the question of what exactly is and is not canon. To answer this question, I would take a page from Charles Dickens' book by expanding to three shows, essentially having the Trek of the Past, Trek of the Present and Trek of the Future. 

Trek of the Future

With it's setting in the early 25th century (aboard the Enterprise-G), Star Trek Legacy would take on the role of Trek of Future. It is here that we discover - feel free to moan at the pun - that 32rd century seen in Star Trek Discovery no longer comes to pass. Also, occasional references to past episodes would suggest that the 24th century shows - TNG, DS9, Voyager, Prodigy and Lower Decks - are all still within canon. This torch would then be picked up by...

Trek of the Present

...Star Trek: Equinox Starting in 2380, this show would tell the story of the black sheep of the fleet, the USS Equinox. Launched in 2374, this Nova-class starship was build as the replacement for Rudolf Ransom's command. 

But when Voyager send word of Ransom's horrific misdeeds in Delta Quadrant back home, she became the ship that nobody wants to be assigned to. After a rotating door of temporary captains for years, the main character is put in command of the vessel.

Why the Equinox ?  Because the Equinox comes with a built-in larger story arc (that can play out in the background). Namely the crews search for redemption. Furthermore, being a small vessel provides the crew with unique challenges not faced by larger vessels such as Voyager and Enterprise. 

Or as Publilius Syrus once put it "Anyone can hold the Helm if the Sea is Calm." But if Equinox wants to survive - especially in combat situations - she has be smarter then the average bear.

Why this time period ?  Because it is much closer to the other 24th century shows. And therefore, much easier to tie-in to them. Maybe the Equinox was part of the clean-up post the Texas-class Incident from Lower Decks ? And somebody would have to pick up the pieces after the Protostar Disaster of 2384. 

Furthermore, Star Trek Picard only showed us bits and pieces of what happened between Nemesis and Season 1. Equinox could add to this the story of this time period and - dare I say it - where necessary and possible, retcon the hot messes that were Picard Season 1 and 2.

Finally, if the show manages to beat the odds and achieve the traditional seven seasons, the end point would be in 2387. This would allow the final season show the Hobus Supernova and its direct aftermath. Oh, and once the show is past the setting of Prodigy and Lower Decks, who knows...maybe some of the characters from those shows could be salvaged/transferred to life action. You never know.

Next time, Trek of the Past and some concluding thoughts.

To be continued....