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[Anthony Edward Stark]

The reason the Doctor from VOY was such a good character is that he hated everyone else, and that was something the audience could identify with.

Regarding Q, I think he works when used the right way.  I don't care for him so much as someone who just fucks with people out of boredom, but the episodes where he exists as "the GM" are interesting to me.  When you make him into an antagonistic figure he generally doesn't work as well, because you really can't have him opposing the characters directly.   It's like having your players try to fight the GM.  If your GM is an openly-antagonistic player then your adventure will probably be shit.  How I think he works best is when he is someone who is placing obstacles in the crew's path because he is legitimately interested in seeing how and if they can get past them.  That's particularly what he's doing in Tapestry: he genuinely wants Picard to make the decision he did, but he also wants to make sure Picard is deciding that on his own.  He will reward him but it has to be earned.

Anyway Kai Winn is pretty slimy but nobody's a better villain than Gul Dukat, and that's a fact.

[superaielman]

That episode on DS9 with Q is rightly regarded as one of the worst in DS9 history, so it may be coloring my view. I do find Q in general to be more of a gimmick than a character though. 

Dukat is great, but Winn is villainous in a different way. Whatever else you can say about Dukat in the early seasons, he is open in his evil. Winn is every backstabber and hypocrite you know from real life, who uses her religion and influence to avoid getting in trouble every time.  The strength of DS9 villains is one reason the show is so solid, I have to say.

[Shale]

I've always remembered Bashir as being pretty okay even before the character development, but that's probably because of all his scenes with Garak.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

If we are talking early you have a point. Dukat is dynamic, though, and Winn is not.  Also he's got way better lines. "The real victory isn't to beat your opponent, it's to make them realize they were wrong to oppose you in the first place."

[superaielman]

Dukat is an amazing villain, no arguments. The scene where he coldly threatens that freighter smuggling weapons is such a perfect microcosm of Cardassian society and Gul Dukat in general. "You have 15 seconds to comply." He is pretty disturbing even when he is nominally aligned with Sisko. Winn just caught me off guard with how good she was. I did not remember the character until I rewatched. The Garak and alternate universe episodes have been highlights of the season so far.  It says something about how fucked up a universe is when Quark is unquestionably the most heroic person there.

They already start seeding the Dominion in season 2 (they're mentioned twice, no one really pursues it).

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Smiley was pretty decent in the Mirror Universe, too. I regret the lack of a Mirror Dukat, though. I feel like I would have really enjoyed him as some renegade Cardassian abolitionist.

E: are you up to The Wire yet? I base my entire fucking life on the lessons I learned from it.

[superaielman]

Up to season 7 now. DS9 has always been my favorite of the Star Trek series, and rewatching it has confirmed it. The series really finds it's focus in season 3, when they add the Defiant and the Dominion starts to become a factor. The overarching plot is very good and well laid out. Even bit characters like Quark's mother evolve through the series, along with the main plot and characters.   By forsaking the usual exploration and villain/character of the week theme of previous star treks, they manage to build up a very strong cast (including Garak, Gul Dukat, Cai Winn, Rom, Nog, etc). It's hard to pick a favorite character. Bashir is up there, as are Sisko and Odo. The entire cast is just fantastic from top to bottom, and that is due to just how heavily they are all developed.

The good: Overarching plot, characters. The Dominion are likely the best villains in the Star Trek universe. 
The bad: A lot of the S1-2 episodes are terrible.
The ugly: Any episode with  Lwaxana Troi.    For that matter, most of the TNG tie-ins are awful outside of Worf and O'Brien.

[OblivionKnight]

Blah. 

You know, I barely get to watch any shows I like anymore.  So, let's review some of the shit I have been watching (and some good stuff).

Carrie Diaries - Oh god.  Yeah, remember when I said Sex and the City 2 was bad?  Yeah.  Uh...the lead does look a lot like Carrie, but shit man.  It does not work as a prequel for the series.  Too teen drama.  Boring, honestly.  It still has some of the awesome ridiculous moments ("SPREAD YOUR VAGINA!"), but is overall a teen drama.


Pretty Little Liars - HAH.  AHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Oh god this show.  So, it's based on a young adult book series.  And it is so ridiculously out there.  I swear, the "villain" is a fucking wizard.  I can't take this show seriously, and yet it is ALL drama.  OF COURSE it's popular with that demographic.  The story is ridiculous, and definitely something an immature child would come up with.  Just...awful.  It's like Degrassi where the ENTIRE purpose is seeing people unhappy.  Just bad.


House Hunters Everything - FUCK THIS SHOW AND ANYTHING RELATED TO IT.  Just...argh.  How does it go for so many episodes but Arrested Development, Pushing Daisies...much better shows are canceled?  I swear, it's scenery porn at its finest.  I don't ever get an erection while watching it.  So fucking bad.


Hart of Dixie - So promising to start out with.  I was REALLY hoping they'd go with a different medical drama...but that premise got dropped to turn it into a regular TV show about a girl and a town's misadventures...IN THE SOUTH.  It had a lot of potential in the first season, and it feels like they gave up to write something easier.  At least it is somewhat entertaining.


Glee - I like Glee.  But damn it goes back and forth.  Some episodes are great, some are offensive.  I feel like the storylines don't go anywhere, and it's hard to suspend disbelief.  My biggest issue is...well, they try to be both ridiculously off-kilter AND srsbsns.  Seriously, report Sue to the FBI.  CHRIST. 


Smash - This is...the best show on TV right now.  It is excellent.  I love the music, the drama is balanced, there's smart humor.  Also, one of the STRONGEST pilots EVER.  A lot of places said it started to crash after that...but it's excellent still.  Original songs are amazing, and I would totally see either Bombshell or Hitlist on Broadway without hesitation.  Just so adult, but BALANCES it all very well.   


Archer - Also great as always.  So behind on it though.  Still, good show.  Funny as hell, and everyone should watch it.  Current season seems like it's going for more standalone episodes, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Hart of Dixie

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Smash - This is...the best show on TV right now.  It is excellent.

On all of TV? You're so wrong you might as well be NEB talking about what makes a game good. I mean its not even the best show on its own network and it's on NBC.

[Cmdr_King]

Doctor Who- Watched series 1.  It's weird, the show reminds me of Buffy  but sorta in reverse.  For whatever reason the random adventure episodes are the ones I find myself enjoying more than the more arc-driven ones.  Unexpected.

[AndrewRogue]

Finally got around to watching the first season of the new Dr. Who (Series 1 I guess, like CK?). It is damn good fun.

Eccleston feels incredibly underrated and really sells a lot of powerful moments. "Dalek" is just a solid episode for him on the whole. The "Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!" scene from "The Doctor Dances" I find incredibly moving. I honestly feels like one of the best, raw emotional moments I've seen on TV in a while. I'm actually kinda disappointed he only did one series. He really grew on me quite quickly.

Rose is... eh. She grates a lot. She has this above average Mary Sue feel and just... blarghle. Don't really like her.

Captain Jack is great generally while he's around.

Steven Moffat needs to do more episodes in general. I see that this gets resolved a bit later on. The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances are incredible.

[Shale]

Steven Moffat needs to do more episodes in general. I see that this gets resolved a bit later on. The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances are incredible.

SPOILER WARNING: This is not true. It turns out one two-parter a year is pretty much his limit for high-quality material. Sadly.

Speaking of which, I finally got around to the Christmas special from four months ago. Not great, but solid. Nice use of an old-school villain (who is, the Internet informs me, the Who version of Yog-Sothoth. Seriously.), Ian McKellan is involved, the supporting trio was played really well. Especially nice since the previous Christmas ep was basically the low point of the entire new series.

[AndrewRogue]

SPOILER WARNING: This is not true. It turns out one two-parter a year is pretty much his limit for high-quality material. Sadly.

Aww. Well, at least he does those?

[AndrewRogue]

Doctor Who (Series 2): Picking up where Eccleston left off, Tennant does a fantastic job of portraying the Doctor. Although similar, Tennant's Doctor is a lot less pathos ridden and tends towards viewing the world as a lot more awesome than the 9th.

He is also a lot darker, when you really get down to it. One chance. That's all you get.

Rose continues to be Rose which is not a praiseworthy feat. The phrase "Shut up, Rose!" was uttered muchly. There are some generally cool episodes here (I was quite fond of the Doctor vs Satan), but I think I'd consider series 1 stronger? The series ends on a high note, though, leading us into the third feeling much better about life. >_>

Doctor Who (Series 3): Probably the strongest series yet. Starts with the phenomenal The Runaway Bride, which is the perfect lift after the conclusion of the previous series. The Doctor's new companion, Martha Jones, is enjoyable and infinitely less stupid than a certain other companion.

The Daleks are, unfortunately, feeling a bit overexposed at this point, but what can you do?

Just a mixture of really fun and really gripping episodes this series. Blink is still fantastic and well worth watching, but Human Nature and The Family of Blood are WOEFULLY underappreciated. Those episodes generate ALL the feels. And, in retrospect, they really set-up for the arc the Doctor takes in series 4.

The Master is an amazing villain and really helps this series end on a strong note.

Doctor Who (Series 4): Probably the strongest series, helped out a lot by the most enjoyable of the Doctor's new companions, Donna Noble. Just a great season and has a ridiculously strong end with episodes 9-13 all being completely stellar.

Unfortunately, we do see the return of a character that I did not miss, but bleh.

Just brilliant on the whole, even if the end does leave me with this sad sensation that life is totally unfair sometimes.

I've also finished the specials that bridge series 4 and 5, but I think those deserve their own post.

[Shale]

Doctor Who (Series 4): Probably the strongest series, helped out a lot by the most enjoyable of the Doctor's new companions, Donna Noble.

I salute your impeccable good taste, sir.

Series 7 is back in swing and going pretty well thus far. I mean, it's only three episodes in and I haven't seen the third one yet, but Jenna Louise Coleman is doing well and Matt Smith is keeping up the air he had in the first half of the season, playing up the ageless-codger part of the character more than in S6.

[Grefter]

Human Nature and Family Blood are probably high points of the series for me outside of Master related things.  Tennant at his best.  The points that embody the cold force of nature that the Doctor can be that is kind of periodically in the character from back in first and second generation (mostly when he is a cranky old fuck).

Rare to not see Silence in the Library hype, which is one of the ones I thought would be right up your alley.  Blink is also quality, but is something of an internet phenomenon these days.

[AndrewRogue]

I am actually a huge Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead fan. It is actually, I want to say, close to my first experience with the show as well? I think I may have seen the Adipose episode (or a part of it) first.

I just thought the entire run of episodes from (Silence in the Library, Forest of the Dead, Midnight, Turn Left, The Stolen Earth, and Journey's End) was great and chose not to specifically call any of them out.

I only specifically mentioned Blink since, despite being faddy, is definitely on the list of episodes to watch if you're just going to watch a couple.

[Sierra]

Picking up DS9 after watching seasons 1-4 years ago and then getting distracted. Halfway through S5 now and it is pretty consistently excellent. Dukat just made his big power play. I figured the freedom fighter act wouldn't last, but I didn't quite expect that. You go into the episode assuming it's going to be all about an attack on the station and it turns out everything hinges on a fistfight with Worf, and a cardassian stuck in a crawlspace. Actually pretty great! "I yield. I cannot defeat this klingon. I can only kill him."

[superaielman]

Ciddy, I read that review guy you linked me to. He's very hit and miss. His head his so far up his own ass at points that it is painful (See: His bitching about mirror universe episodes when unironically praising freaking episodes with Ferengi in them). Also.

    Elim Garak: It's vile.
    Quark: I know. It's so bubbly and cloying and happy.
    Elim Garak: Just like the Federation.
    Quark: And you know what's really frightening? If you drink enough of it, you begin to like it.
    Elim Garak: It's insidious.
    Quark: Just like the Federation.

[AndrewRogue]

I'm actually going to do this episode by episode at some point, but for now...

Doctor Who (Series 4 Specials): Didn't see Planet of the Dead. Outside of that though, solid. The slide in the Doctor's character is interesting, entertaining, sensible, and fairly well built into. You buy it. The finale is pretty goddamn good and ridiculously, amazingly, awesomely camp for large sections of it.

Also, Time Lords? Total douchebags.

Doctor Who (Series 5): Welcome the 11th Doctor. He is an odd one. He takes a while to get used to but, once you do, he is a good Doctor. He does take some getting used to, though.

Meet Amy and Rory. They are fun as well.

Also, more River Song. Yey? I dunno. I just can't get into her.

The series itself is... okay? Eleventh Hour is great (and the best intro episode of the new series). Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone are pretty good. Vincent and the Doctor is fun, as is The Lodgert. Finale is kinda cool and concept, but just doesn't ring with me.

Yeah. I dunno. My feelings on this series are not strong.

Took me a while to really start feeling Smith in the role, but once he gets into it, it is great!

Doctor Who (Series 6): ...ah. I see what you mean, Shale. Yeah. I... don't care for this series on the whole. The overarching plot is pretty... argh. It starts out fairly promising and then just gets weirder and more unsustainable.

There are some cool elements to it. The Silence are pretty awesome and very well handled!

And then completely ignored!

Honestly, their gimmick would have been best for a two-parter instead of series+ spanning plotline.

There are some okay/solid episodes this series, but none that immediately jump out at me as super hype (I know, burn me for not fanboying over The Doctor's Wife!).

There some bad ones, though. Oh yes, there are those.

A Good Man Goes to War. Never have I been so let down by foreshadowing about what will happen in an episode since "This is the story of how I died." Did have the amazing, unintentional hilarity of doing the BIG REVEAL at the end and then, since it was Netflix, transitioning so we could select the next episode.

The impact of the BIG REVEAL was slightly overshadowed by the next episode being called "Let's Kill Hitler!"

If this episode had delivered on what it promised? This could have been hype. As is... it was just sort of lame.

Similarly, the Wedding of River Song, while decent for the most part, completely fell apart at the end. It also makes Smith's character arc as the Doctor REALLY inconsistent and erratic. While part of his character (the erratic and inconsistent), I would have appreciated it portrayed as a little less bipolar.

Also the final resolution is stupid.

[Shale]

The less River is involved in a particular episode of season 6, the higher the odds that it will be watchable. S7 returns her to the premise that made her seem like an interesting character in the first place - a fellow time-traveler who deals with the Doctor as an equal and friend, with the added wrinkle that they never know exactly what the other person remembers at any given point (fuck the "they go through time in the opposite order" thing from S6, incidentally).

[AndrewRogue]

I miss Captain Jack, on that note =(

[Idun]

House of Cards so so so good so witty so funny so southern idlewild

[Cmdr_King]

Star Trek: The Original Series-  So I watched all of season 1.  The early episodes are fascinating.  It has this odd reliance on suspense you don't see nearly as much as the show goes on.  Much as they show is actually pretty successful at creating that emotion though, it definitely improves overall as it progresses.  About midway through you start getting episodes like Conscience of the King, Balance of Terror, and Arena which are just great.  The last in particular surprised me because, despite what it's famous for (it's the lizardman episode), the setup is absolutely fantastic and really took me by surprise.

You can tell its 60s tv of course.  Show can get downright uncomfortable when male-female interaction is a key element of a scene.  Although Space Seed at least is intentional about that, probably one reason it's one of the episodes that holds up the best.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

Well, that and Khan himself, who is just fantastic as written, and Montalban does a great job of playing him.