29 Days of Star Trek meme: Day 2

Day 2 - Who is your favorite character?


One for each incarnation (minus Enterprise, since I have none there), I can't declare a favourite character of all ST, full stop. So:

TOS: Spock. Me and most of fandom, I know, but I can't help it. TOS Spock with his smartness, wry deadpan humor, loyalty, repression and inner conflict, his deep interest in the universe and his dignity was a childhood crush that stayed. One reason why Reboot!Spock could never hold the same attraction to me is that he's so openly emotional. (This is not a criticism, Reboot!Spock fans! I like him for what and who he is. He's just not a favourite in his own 'verse.)

TNG: Picard. Did I mention I have a thing for stoic repressed characters with gravitas and dignity who every now and then reveal there is an inner emotional torrent going on?( Also guys with great voices.) Seriously though, Picard is my Captain. In addition to the earlier named aspects, I love that he's an archaelogy geek, that he's awkward around children, that he really does believe in diplomacy and negotiations as a first option, that he takes the opinions of his bridge crew into account (most of the time) and asks for them (the whole concept of the ready room conference was a TNG thing), that he can be arrogant and self righteous but is willing to admit this and change the behavior in question if someone calls him on it, that he's willing to make a stand for principles even if they're inconvenient (The Tin Drum, aka the episode where an actual case of spying leads to an increasingly paranoid witch hunt , is a morely timely episode than ever), that he's the first main character in ST whose episode related traumas were allowed to stay with him. (The Borg one, obviously; but also, when Picard got tortured, he really did end up seeing five lights. In a tv climate where main character heroes had magical immunity from being broken by torture while villains always caved - and sadly, we seem to be going back there in some ways -, this was new back then. It made me afraid for Picard in a way I never could have been for Kirk who not only obviously would never be broken but also would be fine the next episode.) Lastly (and I'm going by on screen canon only), I love that he's the one Starship Captain whose old age future had him not become an Admiral, or stay a Captain, but had him become an Ambassador, which seemed to me uniquely suitable for Picard and a great continuity tie-in given his affinity to Sarek.

DS9: It used to be Garak while the show was on the air, for all the obvious reasons; Cardassian moral ambiguity personified, witty (the scriptwriters invariably gave him the most quotable one liners), mysterious trickster type with uncertain loyalties (for the first half of the show anyway), Andy Robinson gave a magnetic performance, and Garak/Bashir was probably my first slash ship. (It definitely was the first one where I felt jealous of a rival ship, to wit, Bashir/O'Brien.) Then, to my surprise, in subsequent years and upon rewatching the show on dvd, it became Quark. I wrote an entire separate post as to why, so allow me to quote from the conclusion: “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” Quark says in the DS9 series finale, and these are the last words ever spoken on the show. It’s fitting that they’re spoken by the regular who performs a similar function to the fools in classic drama; comic relief, to be sure, but also insight and occasions of deep pathos. Because his natural reaction to danger is to turn tail and run away, his moments of physical bravery were all the more effective; in a universe that gets increasingly grim as the Dominion war raged, he never stops seeing negotations and bribery as a way out (and incidentally is proven right in a way, as what prevents the Female Founder from ordering the Jem’Hadar to continue fighting is Odo linking with her and promising to return to their people). He keeps falling in love with women who were the opposite of what his natural conservatism tells him to treasure, is the rebel in a family of progressives precisely because he’s the Tory, and is quick-witted enough to win arguments with representatives of just about every race in two quadrants if he tries hard enough, from Cardassians through Vulcans to the Prophets themselves. In short, he’s a delightful paradox, and like Jadzia Dax tells Pel: “I don’t care what everybody else says, I love him.”

VOY: For the first three seasons, it was the Doctor. Then it became Seven of Nine. The Doctor was ST's latest take on the "non-human character exploring what it means to be human" trope, and a well done one; you could follow his growth through the seasons, Robert Picardo had superb comic timing but also was great in conveying pathos. The sole reason why he changed into being my second favourite was because I fell for Seven, and to this day it makes me angry when ST related articles make a reference to her being only there to show off the catsuit. Seven was, among other things, a take on another ST trope - the one I nicknamed for myself "Child of Two Worlds" , see post about it here -, she was allowed to maintain a genuinely different perspective to the Starfleet one, her dynamic with Janeway was fascinating, and I loved her relationship with the Doctor as well. (Oh, and if you want episodes to throw at people who think Jeri Ryan was there just for her figure, go for Survival Instinct - the sole Ron Moore episode on Voyager, wherein Seven has to deal with something awful she did and is in full Borg get up for the flashbacks while still conveying what's going on solely by facial expression, while in the present there is no easy solution at the end - and Body and Soul (for MacGuffin plot reasons, the Doctor is downloaded in Seven's body fora while, and Ryan has a great time channelling her inner Picardo.)

ST Reboot: Nyota Uhura. One thing about the Rebootverse I love without reservations is that Uhura has a much more prominent position in it. I have some great issues with the second movie especially, but I loved, loved, loved every single Uhura scene, and adored that en passant one of Nichelle Nichols' big complaints (the scene in The Undiscovered Country where Uhura has to browse through dusty volumes to speak a few Klingon phrases - Nichelle Nichols hated it with a passion, pointing out that as communications expert, Uhura would be fluent with a language so important in the ST verse as Spanish or Russian is on Earth) received a listening to (in Into Darkness, Reboot!Uhura gets to negotiate with Klingons in fluent Klingon). I like she takes the initiative in her relationship with Reboot!Spock, I like the relationship with Reboot!Kirk going from adverserial to bonding over mutual Spock exasparation, I like that she knows her worth and never allows herself to be patronized. In conclusion: she's my favourite.


Honorable mention: TOS movies, where it's Saavik, barely beating out Gillian the whale expert, but I wasn't sure whether to count the TOS movies as separate entities.


( The other days )

Elementary Season 2 Rewatch: the second half

Rewatching the second season has certainly improved my opinion of it as a whole, except for the last few episodes, where my rewatch opinion is pretty much identical to my original broadcast opinion (I just checked). Though this time around, I'm also ready to offer a theory about why Mycroft, and to a lesser degree Lestrade, didn't work as characters in the same way Kitty would in s3. It's the good old showing over telling.

Let's start with Lestrade - who as a character per se works, also as a take on the ACD original (especially since the existence of Gregson and Bell insures we don't see him as a narrative statement about policemen being unable to do without Sherlock etc.), and the pay off in his last episode - ( spoilery explanation ensues )

- was well done. Lestrade's attitude towards Joan, a mixture between gratitude (for her help) and jealous resentment (because she's the partner in crime solving now and far better at it than he was), was very believable . Where the problem comes in is that the last episode also has a scene earlier where Joan (in the form of an exasparated pep talk) points out that Sherlock during Bell's arc has gone through a great number of highly competent police detectives whom he couldn't work with, yet worked with Lestrade and only Lestrade for years, therefore must have seen something special in him. You get the feeling this is also an authorial statement. The problem here is that we haven't seen anything on screen to justify believing in a mutual emotional connection. Doesn't matter in the season opener, because there Sherlock's main motivation to help Lestrade is guilt. But in the later half of s2, we're supposed to believe in fondness beneath the exasparation, and the show gives us no reason to believe in fondness scene wise (except for the last one), nor do the actors sell it. This isn't a matter of lacking screentime. The s2 Rhys episode managed to sell me completely with just a few scenes on the idea that Sherlock does care about Rhys, enough to risk having him in his house, and enough to forgive him after their argument. It also helps that John Hannah manages to exude likeability in the role. Sean Pertwee is good as Lestrade, but he's certainly not charming, so this as an explanation for Holmes & Watson letting him stay for weeks is out, let alone for Holmes working with him for years. Moreover, Johnny Lee Miller plays Holmes so consistently cooly disdainful in Lestrade's presence in the later two Lestrade eps that I have a hard time believing in that regard Joan's pep talk implies.

To me, one of the key problems with Mycroft is similar: again, tell versus show. The later relationship with Joan is actually the minor issue here, though it does fall into this category; when Mycroft shows up in New York again at the start of the last quartet of episodes, we're informed that ( spoilers have progressed )

. But that's a side issue, imo, like I said: the far bigger problem is the Sherlock & Mycroft relationship. Because given how the plot works out, what the show is theoretically going for is the type of dysfunctional brotherliness that's usually described as "can't live with, can't live without", siblings who are rivals and bicker but come through for each other when it counts (which usually is catnip to me). However, if you want to sell that dynamic you have to convey affection underneath the constant verbal digs. And/or the memory of past good times to contrast with the present bad ones. Whereas what we actually see on screen in all the s2 episodes featuring Mycroft is completely one sided; it doesn't come across as a love/hate relationship, it comes across, at best, as Mycroft mysteriously caring despite unrelenting hostility from Sherlock (long before the Paint it Black plot gives him a good reason for Mycroft directed anger). It's especially glaring since this is the same season which has no trouble convincing me during the Bell arc that Sherlock cares very deeply for Bell, even and especially when he's yelling at him (leading at last to Bell voicing his anger), no matter how blustery he gets. Considering the relationship between the brothers Holmes is what's supposed to drive the finale, this is a big black hole sucking believability out of the final four.

Now, the writers evidently learned from this, because with Kitty s3 it's show, not tell. We actually see her relationship with Joan develop on screen from a hostile start to a cautious approaching to a genuine friendship. While the start and foundation of her relationship with Sherlock is withheld until The One Who Got Away (to great effect), we see it in practice throughout her arc. There is no clumsy "This is how Sherlock feels about Kitty" dialogue necessary, because we see it demonstrated. And just compare two reveals: the s2 finale needs to let a minor character (the dead victim's ex wife) inform Joan of a key piece of Mycroft and Sherlock backstory; Joan goes to Mycroft and they exposition the confirming information at each other; later, Joan during an argument tells Sherlock; who in turn brings it up to Mycroft and, verbally going back to the opening episode, reminds us of the seasonal theme of making amends as a step of the recovery program. All via "he/you did it because..." type of dialogue. Meanwhile, the mid s3 climax of the Kitty arc, The One Who Got Away, juxtaposes Kitty in the present (where she's confronting her big backstory trauma and has to decide how far she'll go) with the flashbacks to how she became Sherlock's student. The key information re: why this relationship became so important to him in turn (if you like, the equivalent to what Joan finds out about Mycroft from the murder victim's ex) is conveyed to the audience via a scene with mininum dialogue and via actions (and non-actions) instead, Sherlock's and Kitty's. And because it fits with what we've been before via Sherlock's and Kitty's present day interactions, it feels entirely organic.

Back to season 2. With the negative out of the way, here's why my opinion of the season as a whole still has improved via the rewatch, second half as well as first half. There's development and good continuity here; early in the season, you have Sherlock solving a case one of the NYPD detectives has given Joan unasked and, after she pointed out to him how patronising unhelpful that was, made up for it by giving her his own cold cases, the crimes he could never solve. Later in the season, you have Joan solving just such a case. Moreover, Joan's surgeon past continues to matter; the episode where she thinks that a former superior may have let a patient die deliberately because it was a murderer also turns into a look at Joan's psyche; ( spoilers about the solution ensue )

. S2 offered us also more about Joan's background familywise - the information about her biological father being a homeless man suffering from schizophrenia. (The episode in question also contains some favourite Joan and Sherlock friendship scenes while avoiding a cheap pay off like Joan finding her father and getting him back on medication.) The Mafia episode may end the Holmes and Bell enstrangement, but the real emotional pay off comes a few episodes later, when Marcus can't bring himself to enter the pub where his fully restored shooting ability is celebrated yet, and Sherlock keeps him company outside (and then in a coffee shop). Randy the sponsee shows up on only one more episode after he got introduced (and I still wish there'd been a line in s3 about what became of him), but in terms of later events it's significant that he ( does a spoilery thing )

And then there's the Alistair/Philip Seymour Hofmann episode. Which still breaks my heart. And is another opposite to the Mycroft eps in that we learn a great deal about Alistair - and about Sherlock's relationship with him - in a short screen time, and have no trouble believing it. ( Including a rare instance of Elementary letting Sherlock use a certain term. )

The episode doesn't lose its power during rewatch, i.e. when you already know what's going on with Alistair the first time we hear his voice, on the teaching tape Sherlock listens to in the teaser scene. Checking the Elementary section at A03 tells me no one seems to have written a big Alistair story yet, despite all the new information the story offered. (Ian, Jeremy...) I wish someone would. (And while we're at s2 inspired fanfiction wish lists, I wish someone would bring back Graham and/or Abigail/Ann.) (Oh, and C, the fabulous old lady who is Sherlock's erotic letters correspondant.) (Sidenote: when Joan in episode 2.20 says re: her having kept in touch with Mycroft, in reply to Sherlock's "so you corresponded" question "we exchanged emails - nobody corresponds these days", she's ignoring her partner, who seems to be into old fashioned letter writing big time, between Moriarty, Alistair (their relationship started as a fan letter after a BBC radio drama), Abigail (they become pen pals at age 15) and C (see above.)

One annoyance the s2 finale originally left me with - the fear we'd next get a plot about Sherlock the spy, which is so not what I want from this show - was immediately settled by s3's opener (which made it clear we wouldn't), so upon rewatch I could appreciate more the way the final four episodes handled ( something spoilery. )

In conclusion: its flaws not withstanding, the rewatch has left me considerably fonder of s2 than I used to be. How many more months till season 4?