Looks like Jammer isn't dead after all. He has reviewed half of S5 and plans to review the rest of TNG
http://www.jammersreviews.com/st-tng/s5/
http://www.jammersreviews.com/st-tng/s5/
Jammer reviews TNG season 5
- Thread starter Dream
- Start date
Took him three years. Can't believe it's been that long and I've checked the site at least once every day. What's that say about my life. 
The good news is that Jammer plans to review two episodes every week from now on. Let's see if he keeps his promise.
He gave Darmok only three stars. It should be way higher.
I mostly agree with the rest of his grades he gave for the first half of season 5. He gave Unification part 1 and 2 higher grades than I would have given them. I've never been much of a fan of those episodes, the only reason they stood out was because of Spock, certainly not because of the writing.
He gave Darmok only three stars. It should be way higher.
I mostly agree with the rest of his grades he gave for the first half of season 5. He gave Unification part 1 and 2 higher grades than I would have given them. I've never been much of a fan of those episodes, the only reason they stood out was because of Spock, certainly not because of the writing.
Jammer grades on a four-star system, so the only higher it could be is four stars. So not that bad a grade, in all.
Here is his grading scale.
http://www.jammersreviews.com/info/ratings.php
I think most fans consider Darmok and The Inner Light to be the gems of season five.
I pretty much disagree with almost all his scores.
Silicon Avatar is a 3.5 star episode. Kila Marr's struggle with dealing with her guilt over leaving her son behind with friends to pursue her career leading to his death by the crystaline entity was well done and compelling, the scene where Data replays his logs in his voice was moving, and the final scene where we see an already broken mother get one more emotional punch to her gut when Data tells her her son would not approve was devastating. Plus the attack in the teaser and early first act was exciting. Jammer's review seemed aimless and I didn't quite understand his issue with the episode honestly. Picard's point was that does a crustalline entity as a lifeform deserve to exist anymore than humans--they are both living creatures.
Disaster is a fun 3 star episode. I could care less if we see the repairs to the ship-- they got the ship up and running to get to a repair base that's sufficient. I think he is just being nitpicky. I personally enjoyed seeing Troi in charge and the Troi/Obrien/Ro dynamic. Picard's dealing with the scared children was fun whether him handing out pips or singing Frere Jacque. And I loved the disembodied Data scene. I also thought it had a nice amount of geniune tension with the ticking clock of a warp core explosion.
And I can't believe he gave Hero Worship 1.5 stars--it isn't a classic but solid 3 stars. Who cares if it is another kid-centered episode? Timothy was well drawn and sympathetic, the Data/Timothy interactions were realistic/warm/comfortable, I didn't think the emulation by Timothy of Data was psychobabble--the kid witnesses the death of his parents and the crew of the ship, he thinks he triggered it and hears Data has no emotions so the kid decides to pretend he has no emotions--seems like a reasonable coping mechanism. And Troi did play a role--she guided Data in how to handle Timothy and checked in on them. She just didn't hand it over to Data and washed her hands of it.
Violations was a 3 star episode--one of those fun high concept TNG outings. He complains Jev attacked Troi again well he was clearly unhinged and couldn't stand that Troi was not more upset by her earlier attack.
Conundrum is a 3.5 star episode--lot of fun with the characters.
I do agree Darmok is overrated and is more of a 2.5-3 star episode. The scenes back on the ship do seem like padding and a lot of the scenes on the ground are routine. The alien threat was a macguffin and reminded me of the Gorn. Sure the ending was poignant but that doesn't make a 4 star episode. It is kinda boring and not very entertaining---it is more appreciated in an academic way which sometimes mean it is dry. I always remember this episode for the introduction of Picard's new tunic and jacket with the leather shoulders which get replaced by suede shoulders on the jacket in subsequent episodes.
Silicon Avatar is a 3.5 star episode. Kila Marr's struggle with dealing with her guilt over leaving her son behind with friends to pursue her career leading to his death by the crystaline entity was well done and compelling, the scene where Data replays his logs in his voice was moving, and the final scene where we see an already broken mother get one more emotional punch to her gut when Data tells her her son would not approve was devastating. Plus the attack in the teaser and early first act was exciting. Jammer's review seemed aimless and I didn't quite understand his issue with the episode honestly. Picard's point was that does a crustalline entity as a lifeform deserve to exist anymore than humans--they are both living creatures.
Disaster is a fun 3 star episode. I could care less if we see the repairs to the ship-- they got the ship up and running to get to a repair base that's sufficient. I think he is just being nitpicky. I personally enjoyed seeing Troi in charge and the Troi/Obrien/Ro dynamic. Picard's dealing with the scared children was fun whether him handing out pips or singing Frere Jacque. And I loved the disembodied Data scene. I also thought it had a nice amount of geniune tension with the ticking clock of a warp core explosion.
And I can't believe he gave Hero Worship 1.5 stars--it isn't a classic but solid 3 stars. Who cares if it is another kid-centered episode? Timothy was well drawn and sympathetic, the Data/Timothy interactions were realistic/warm/comfortable, I didn't think the emulation by Timothy of Data was psychobabble--the kid witnesses the death of his parents and the crew of the ship, he thinks he triggered it and hears Data has no emotions so the kid decides to pretend he has no emotions--seems like a reasonable coping mechanism. And Troi did play a role--she guided Data in how to handle Timothy and checked in on them. She just didn't hand it over to Data and washed her hands of it.
Violations was a 3 star episode--one of those fun high concept TNG outings. He complains Jev attacked Troi again well he was clearly unhinged and couldn't stand that Troi was not more upset by her earlier attack.
Conundrum is a 3.5 star episode--lot of fun with the characters.
I do agree Darmok is overrated and is more of a 2.5-3 star episode. The scenes back on the ship do seem like padding and a lot of the scenes on the ground are routine. The alien threat was a macguffin and reminded me of the Gorn. Sure the ending was poignant but that doesn't make a 4 star episode. It is kinda boring and not very entertaining---it is more appreciated in an academic way which sometimes mean it is dry. I always remember this episode for the introduction of Picard's new tunic and jacket with the leather shoulders which get replaced by suede shoulders on the jacket in subsequent episodes.
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One needs to be careful when reviewing TV episodes that were made 20 years ago. Didn't Jammer review DS9, VOY, and other trek episodes at the time they were first broadcast? If he's now doing retrospective reviews, I hope he's careful to consider some issues in their historical context (e.g., special effects).
But I'm saying all this without having read his TNG season 5 reviews, so off I go....
But I'm saying all this without having read his TNG season 5 reviews, so off I go....
Wow, this was unexpected! I've been rewatching TNG lately so I like getting this extra set of opinions.
I agree Darmok and Conundrum should be higher (3.5 or 4), and I'd swap the ratings for New Ground and Hero Worship. I might even knock Masterpiece Society down a peg further...I've seen it at least three or four times but still have no memory of what it's about because it's so dreadfully boring.
Hopefully he keeps to his schedule for the rest of the series!
I agree Darmok and Conundrum should be higher (3.5 or 4), and I'd swap the ratings for New Ground and Hero Worship. I might even knock Masterpiece Society down a peg further...I've seen it at least three or four times but still have no memory of what it's about because it's so dreadfully boring.
Hopefully he keeps to his schedule for the rest of the series!
Well I'm glad Jammer's reviews are back. I don't always agree with his rankings, but most of the time. And his comments are always worth reading.
It's about time he got back to it.
I'm reaching back several years ago from memory, but wasn't the deal everyone wanted him to review TNG like the other series, by popular demand. He only agreed to it if a collection was taken up to provide him with the TNG series on disc. And it worked, he got enough contributions to acquire the series. Is that right? Am I remembering it correctly?
If so, well... he kinda owes everyone his reviews. He accepted a sort of payment for them, right?
It's about time he got back to it.
I'm reaching back several years ago from memory, but wasn't the deal everyone wanted him to review TNG like the other series, by popular demand. He only agreed to it if a collection was taken up to provide him with the TNG series on disc. And it worked, he got enough contributions to acquire the series. Is that right? Am I remembering it correctly?
If so, well... he kinda owes everyone his reviews. He accepted a sort of payment for them, right?
Yeah i remember that at the time, back around 2004, he would review the show if people could give him the money to go out and buy them. I thought that was the funniest thing I ever heard and briefly toyed with the idea of offering to review Enterprise in exchange for help with my mortgage payment.
Well, give him credit for getting the $ to buy the DVDs, I guess. I take it he is the Roger Ebert of Sci Fi TV reviews here on the BBS, or is he no longer affiliated with it?
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