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Rebels Season 4 Star Wars

Wolves And A Door

Star Wars: RebelsThanks to his Force connection to the Loth-Wolves, Ezra makes the others aware that the abandoned Jedi Temple on Lothal is now occupied by Imperial forces who are close to cracking its secrets. Hera approves a mission to keep that from happening, but is surprised when the Loth-Wolves themselves provide passage to the temple, which is far north of the rebel base camp. Sabine and Ezra disguise themselves as Biker Scouts and enter the Imperial operation, finding that it is being led by an unknown man who reports directly to the Emperor himself. The Loth-Wolves are defending their own secret of travel across Lothal by means of the Force, and need Ezra to learn and protect that secret as well…even if it means leaving Sabine in the hands of the Empire.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Dave Filoni
directed by Dave Filoni & Bosco Ng
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla / Imperial Scout #1), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Stormtrooper #2 / Thrawn Trooper #2), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Adrienne Wilkinson (Daughter), Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine), Lars Mikkelsen (Grand Admiral Thrawn), Matthew Wood (Imperial Comm / Stormtrooper #1 / Thrawn Trooper #1), Dave Filoni (Imperial Scout #2 / Mining Guild Worker), Jason Isaacs (The Inquisitor), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Malcolm McDowell (Minister Hydan)

Notes: Strong with the Dark Side, this episode of Rebels is a wretched hive of scum and villainy from numerous other SF shows and movies, whether it’s Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter movies, who had just finished his stint as the suspicious Captain Lorca on Star Trek: Discovery mere weeks before this episode’s premiere ), Malcolm McDowell (of A Clockwork Orange fame, and still infamous as “the man who killed Captain Kirk” in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations), or Emperor Palpatine himself, Ian McDiarmid, making his first Rebels appearance. Ashley Eckstein appears as Ahsoka for the first time since the season 2 finale, with Adrienne Wilkinson (Eve from Xena: Warrior Princess) appearing as the voice of one of the figures in the painting from the walls of the ancient Jedi temple.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Rebels Season 4 Star Wars

A World Between Worlds

Star Wars: RebelsAfter going through the Jedi portal, EZra finds himself at a crossroads connecting all of space and time through other similar portals. He reaches through one portal and pulls out Ahsoka Tano, rescuing her from her final duel with Darth Vader, but someone else is rapidly finding out how to reach through the other portals as well: the Emperor. Ahsoka warns Ezra that she can’t return to his present with him, but having survived the fight with Vader, she will find him again. With the Emperor’s ability to probe and manipulate the portals growing by the second, Ezra must now reunite with his friends and find a way to close all of the portals…or surrender to the Sith Lord the power to change history.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Dave Filoni
directed by Dave Filoni & Steward Lee
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Stormtrooper), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine), Malcolm McDowell (Minister Hydan)

Notes: While it’s a mainstay of other science fiction, this is one of very few instances of a Star Wars storyline hinting at the ability to time travel and change history.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Rebels Season 4 Star Wars

A Fool’s Hope

Star Wars: RebelsGovernor Pryce receives a call from deposed Governor Ryder Azadi, apparently ready to sell out the rebel cell on Lothal. Hoping that the capture of Ezra Bridger and the others will provide enough of a victory to avoid her impending execution by Thrawn, Pryce commits a significant Imperial force to taking the rebel base, only to be routed by the Ghost, returning to Lothal with Hera, Kallus, Ketsu, Hondo, and a complement of battle-hardened ex-clone troopers. But perhaps even more critical to the rebels’ victory is Ezra’s growing connection with the Force and the Loth-wolves. At the end of the day, the rebels have not only survived, but have taken the Governor of Lothal as their prisoner.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Henry Gilroy & Steven Melching
directed by Dave Filoni & Saul Ruiz
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Imperial Captain / Rebel Officer), Keith Szarabajka (Cikatro Vizago / Imperial Officer #1), Dee Bradley Baker (Rex / Clone Troopers / Melch), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Governor Pryce), Jim Cummings (Hondo Ohnaka / Imperial Officer #2), David Oyelowo (Kallus), Gina Torres (Ketsu Onyo), Warwick Davis (Rukh), Clancy Brown (Ryder Azadi)

Notes: Hera’s maneuver – flipping the Ghost over to knock an Imperial transport out of the sky – anticipates a nearly-identical maneuver that a young Han Solo would use to eliminate a TIE Fighter chasing the Millennium Falcon (back when it was Lando’s ship) during the escape from Kessel in Solo (2018). Not so much a self-contained story as a half-hour all-star fight scene, A Fool’s Hope sets the stage for the series finale.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Rebels Season 4 Star Wars

Family Reunion – And Farewell

Star Wars: RebelsWith Governor Pryce captured by the Rebels, Ezra’s plan to rid Lothal of any Imperial presence permanently is now in motion: the Rebels will, using the captured Imperial transports, infiltrate the Empire’s base on Lothal, where Pryce will – at the point of a blaster – recall all Imperial forces to the base for an evacuation. When Grand Admiral Thrawn returns to Lothal ahead of schedule and begins bombarding the planet’s civilian population from orbit in response, Ezra relents and hands himself over to Thrawn, over the protests of Hera and the others. Thrawn has orders to deliver Ezra to the Emperor, but even before then, Palpatine communicates with Ezra via hologram, offering to return his parents to him, alive and well, in exchange for revealing the secret of the gateway into time and space that was accessible from the ruins of Lothal’s Jedi temple. Ezra refuses, aware that his friends have already set his backup plan into motion, buying time for some old allies to attack the Imperial fleet hovering over Lothal. But will the price of thwarting the Emperor’s plans be the loss of another of the last few remaining Jedi?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Dave Filoni, Henry Gilroy, Kiri Hart, Simon Kinberg & Steven Melching
directed by Dave Filoni, Bosco Ng and Sergio Paez
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by David Russell, Sean Kiner, and Dean Kiner
based on original themes and music by John Williams

RebelsCast: Taylor Gray (Ezra Bridger), Vanessa Marshall (Hera Syndulla), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Kanan Jarrus), Tiya Sircar (Sabine Wren), Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelios / Imperial Officer / Imperial Tech / Stormtrooper #1), Dave Filoni (Chopper / Imperial Pilot / Stormtrooper #2), Keith Szarabajka (Cikatro Vizago / Imperial Officer), Dee Bradley Baker (Captain Rex / Clone Troopers / Ephraim Bridger / Melch), Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Governor Pryce), Lars Mikkelsen (Grand Admiral Thrawn), Jim Cummings (Hondo Ohnaka / Pellaeon / Imperial Commander / Stormtrooper #3), Matthew Wood (Imperial Technician #1), David Acord (Imperial Technician #2), David Oyelowo (Kallus), Gina Torres (Ketsu Onyo), Zachary Gordon (Mart Mattin), Kath Soucie (Mira Bridger), Warwick Davis (Rukh), RebelsClancy Brown (Ryder Azadi)

Notes: The episode-ending coda reveals that Hera and Captain Rex fought in the battle of Endor, and Rogue One had already revealed the Ghost‘s presence at both Yavin IV and the battle of Scarif. Some time after the liberation of Lothal, Hera has a son, Jacen Syndulla, and Sabine’s narration in the coda indicates that Jacen’s father was Kanan. Ezra’s fate is left unresolved, with the tantalizing hint that Sabine and Ahsoka Tano begin a quest to find him after the fall of the Empire, perhaps to be chronicled elsewhere.

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Discovery Season 1 Short Treks Star Trek

Welcome To Section 31 (Untitled Epilogue Scene)

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Following the armistice between the Kllingon Empire and the Federation, former Emperor Phillipa Georgiou remains on the Klingon homeworld, biding her time in a shady bar frequented by off-worlders. One off-worlder, who seems to be a Trill, takes a special interest in Georgiou, though she makes it very clear that the interest isn’t mutual…until he reveals that he is a recruiter for a top-secret security organization which defends the Federation by any means necessary. Section 31 has plans for Georgiou, especially since she operates entirely outside of the Federation’s code of morality…but will she fit in with an organization that’s part of the Federation?

See it on YouTubeteleplay by Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
story by Akiva Goldsman & Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Alan Van Sprang (Leland)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The title given to this short scene is speculative, as CBS has not given it a title other than “Michelle Yeoh And Alan Van Sprang’s Section 31 Bonus Scene From Star Trek Discovery”. Released directly to YouTube after the end of the first season on CBS All Access, this is a rather odd place to drop a major story development, especially considering the announcement, nearly a year later, of a Section 31 spinoff starring Michelle Yeoh. Leland uses holographic technology to disguise himself as a Trill, the same symbiotic species seen more frequently in 24th century Star Trek, including Jadzia Dax (DS9), Odan (TNG), and Ezri Dax (DS9). The entire cast of Star Trek: Discovery, including Jason Isaacs, is credited in the end credits, though only Yeoh and Alan Van Sprang have dialogue in the scene.

Star Trek DiscoverySection 31 was first introduced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the 1998 episode Inquisition, and would be featured several more times in that series (primarily in the person of Section 31 agent Sloan), though its presence extends at least as far back as the era of Captain Jonathan Archer’s Enterprise (in a few episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise‘s fourth season), and exists during James T. Kirk’s command heyday in both an alternate timeline (Star Trek: Into Darkness, 2013) and in possibly apocryphal events in the prime timeline (Star Trek Continues: To Boldly Go, Part I, 2017). Though not officially designated a “Short Trek”, this short scene (of its 4+ minute run time, not even two and a half minutes of story are followed by nearly two minutes of credits) can easily be seen as a trial balloon for the series of stand-alone shorts to follow.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost In Space (Netflix) Season 1

Impact

Lost In SpaceThe Resolute, a massive space colony ship outbound from Earth, is attacked by robots of unknown origin; the colonists are ordered to evacuate in their landfall craft. But unknown to any of them, a rift in spacetime has opened, sucking in the evacuating colonists’ ships, and the wreckage of the Resolute, and depositing them in another galaxy far beyond the reach of Earth. The Robinson family’s landfall craft, the Jupiter 2, homes in on a barely-habitable planet and comes down for a hard landing on a frozen lake. Moments after evacuating the ship containing all of their survival gear, the Robinsons are helpless to do anything but watch as their ship’s heat melts the ice, allowing it to sink into the water. Combat veteran John Robinson seems to be unable to get his wife, Maureen, or any of their three children to stick to anything resembling military discipline. Maureen’s leg, broken in the crash, is a cause for immediate concern. Judy Robinson, the eldest daughter, dives into the water to retrieve batteries to power their makeshift camp, only to be trapped beneath the rapidly refreezing ice in a spacesuit that will eventually run out of oxygen. Penny Robinson, the middle child, is left to look after her mother while John and his son Will go to search for magnesium that could be ignited to burn through the thick ice. Will falls into an ice tunnel, emerging in a heavily wooded area, where he discovers that he is not the only crash survivor: one of the robots has survived, but in the crash has forgotten its hostile intent. Will persuades it to reunite him with his family and to help them survive the various dangers. Neither Will nor any of his family saw the attacking robots, and do not realize that one of their attackers is now among them. They only know that they wouldn’t have survived their first night on this planet without it.

written by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless
based on the teleplay Lost In Space: No Place To Hide by Irwin Allen and Shimon Wincelberg
directed by Neil Marshall
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Bill Mumy (Dr. Zachary Smith), AnnaMaria Demara (Tam Roughneck), Natasha Quirke (Salesperson), Vanessa Eichholz (News Anchor)

Notes: Arriving 20 years after the previous one-off big screen remake and over 50 years after the original Lost In Spaceseries, the premiere episode of the reimagined Lost In Space still finds a moment to look back over its shoulder, casting Bill Mumy (the original Will Robinson) in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as the “real” Dr. Smith (whose identity is stolen by Parker Posey’s character, whose real identity would be revealed later in the season).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost In Space (Netflix) Season 1

Diamonds In The Sky

Lost In SpaceJupiter 7, another colony ship from the doomed Resolute, has crashed on the same planet as the Robinsons, but each group of survivors is unaware of the other. Don West, a member of the Resolute flight crew, is one of the only survivors, along with a woman who identifies herself only as Dr. Smith. They find another crash survivor from one of the other colony ships, but the woman is severely injured; West refuses to leave her behind. Dr. Smith creates a distraction to steal West’s flare gun, setting out on her own and leaving West and the injured survivor behind.

At the Jupiter 2, the alien robot has proven almost too useful in bringing the Robinsons’ ship back to the surface and helping them effect repairs. Judy is still traumatized by the experience of being frozen under the water, leaving Penny to do much of the work. When an explosion is spotted on the horizon, John, Maureen, Will and the Robot set off on foot, assuming other survivors from the Resolute may need help. When no survivors are found, Maureen insists on investigating the nearby wreckage of the robot’s spacecraft. Touching that wreckage awakens some of the robot’s memories, and only then does Will realize that this robot caused the chain of events that stranded his family here. Penny spots a storm incoming and, despite lacking the training to do so, drives off in Jupiter 2’s chariot vehicle to recover her parents and her brother. This storm, however, doesn’t precipitate rain, but rather drops razor-sharp diamonds, trapping the Robinsons until Penny arrives. En route back to Jupiter 2, they spot a flare and pick up another survivor: a woman who identifies herself only as Dr. Smith, the sole survivor of the Jupiter 7.

written by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless
directed by Neil Marshall
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Sibongile Mlambo (Angela), AnnaMaria Demara (Tam Roughneck)

Notes: Exotic planets where the atmospheric makeup and temperatures are so radically different that diamonds fall from the sky may not be that far away – it is, in fact, theorized that this phenomenon could be happening on “ice giant” planets as (relatively) near as Neptune.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost In Space (Netflix) Season 1

Infestation

Lost In SpaceOn Earth, before the launch of the Resolute, future space colonist Jessica Harris offers her material belongings – her home, clothes, car – to her sister June, whose criminal background will probably prevent her from ever having those things otherwise. But June Harris doesn’t want Jessica’s worldly possessions…she wants her otherworldly future.

The Robinsons are unaware that June Harris has joined them aboard the Jupiter 2, in the guise of “Dr. Z. Smith”, an identity she stole from a scientist aboard the Resolute so she could abandon ship. Since she hasn’t actually trained for the mission, “Smith” is of little use as Maureen directs her family to conduct repairs so the Jupiter 2 can blast its way out of the glacier in which it’s trapped, but then the Robinsons notice the rapidly dropping fuel level…and then the robot locks Will in a closet, warning of danger to the ship…and then John finds and kills a parasite which is eating the fuel. Before long, the tanks will contain more eels than fuel.

written by Zack Estrin
directed by Tim Southam
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Selma Blair (Jessica Harris), Shaun Parkes (Captain Radic), Jon Cor (Resolute Officer), Natalie Von Rotsburg (Resolute Officer), Richard Meen (Mark)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost In Space (Netflix) Season 1

The Robinsons Were Here

Lost In SpaceNow that the Jupiter 2 is on stable ground in a warmer area of the planet, the Robinsons are able to make contact with other surviving Jupiter landers. John, Maureen and Judy set out to check in with another family of colonists, discovering that all of the Jupiter craft have been disabled by the same fuel-eating eels. This family is also hosting two survivors: Don West and the severely-injured Resolute officer he rescued. Penny treats the woman, who eventually comes out of her fugue state, introduces herself as Angela, and reveals that the Resolute was attacked by armored robots. Judy returns to the Jupiter 2 to confront Will with this fact, discovering that he already knew. John and Maureen discover that Don West is a man of many talents, including smuggling interstellar contraband…something that may have cost the colonists their ability to call the Resolute for help.

written by Katherine Collins
directed by Alice Troughton
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Sibongile Mlambo (Angela), Ajay Friese (Vijay Dhar), Raza Jaffrey (Victor Dhar), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Hiroki Watanabe), Kiki Sukezane (Aiko Watanabe), Amelia Burstyn (Diane), Yukari Komatsu (Naoko Wtanabe), Shaun Parkes (Captain Radic), Adam Greydon Reid (Peter Beckert)

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Lost In Space (Netflix) Season 1

Transmission

Lost In SpaceAs the colonists continue building a light tower that they hope will be visible from space by the Resolute, John’s primary concern is the robot returning unexpectedly. Dr. Smith weaves a different story for nearly every member of the Robinson family, trying to find out if Will knows the secret of controlling the robot…who still has yet to reappear, somewhat to John’s relief, since the other colonists aren’t aware of it yet. What even John isn’t aware of, at least until he talks to his son, is Will’s knowledge of the role the robot played in the attack on the Resolute. Don West tries to alert Judy to the fact that Dr. Smith is not who or what she seems. Maureen takes a high-altitude balloon and a pressure suit to try to see if she can find out why the length of this planet’s days are unpredictable, and to her horror, detects Hawking radiation – a telltale sign of a black hole nearby. When the tower is completed and activated, it may attract something even more dangerous than the robot before it gets the attention of the Resolute.

written by Kari Drake
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Raza Jaffrey (Victor Dhar), Ajay Friese (Vijay Dhar), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Hiroki Watanabe), Kiki Sukezane (Aiko Watanabe), Iain Belcher (Evan), Evan Frayne (Will’s Test Supervisor), Yukari Komatsu (Naoko Wtanabe), Michelle Martin (Nurse), Shaun Parkes (Captain Radic), Adam Greydon Reid (Peter Beckert), Rowan Schlosberg (Connor)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost In Space (Netflix) Season 1

Eulogy

Lost In SpaceWith the small amount of information she gathered, Maureen determines that the planet has weeks, or maybe months, before it becomes uninhabitable as the black hole’s gravity draws the planet closer to its parent star. Maureen and John wrestle with the implications of sharing this information with the rest of the colonists, possibly causing a panic. Don West reveals to Victor that the Jupiter he crashed in may still have fuel in its tanks, but that information comes at a price. A party of the colonists go to the crash site to retrieve the fuel, but the ship is precipitously balanced on the edge of a cliff. As the fuel is drained from the crashed ship’s tanks, it becomes more of a hazard to everyone in or around it, including West, who finds proof that the woman claiming to be Dr. Smith has stolen the identity of a dead man. When one of the colonists, who lost her husband in the attack on the Resolute, decides to deliver her own judgement upon the robot that she feels is responsible, John tries to stop her, unaware that “Dr. Smith” has carefully engineered the entire situation.

written by Ed McCardie
directed by Vincenzo Natali
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Sibongile Mlambo (Angela), Ajay Friese (Vijay Dhar), Raza Jaffrey (Victor Dhar), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Hiroki Watanabe), Kiki Sukezane (Aiko Watanabe), Iain Belcher (Evan), Amelia Burstyn (Diane), Yukari Komatsu (Naoko Wtanabe), Viv Leacock (Reese), Adam Greydon Reid (Peter Beckert), Rowan Schlosberg (Connor)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lost In Space (Netflix) Season 1

Pressurized

Lost In SpaceAs John and Maureen try to track down the origins of the weapon used by Angela to try to destroy the robot, Dr. Smith begins suggesting candidates for who might have handed Angela a gun, sowing distrust of the other colonists before turning her attention to reassembling the robot. The Chariots returning from Don West’s crashed ship with fuel are forced to cross a field of active geysers, but a particularly intense eruption knocks the fuel tanker over, trapping a young colonist who was clinging to the outside of the Chariot after conducting a repair while in motion. Judy Robinson wants the tank moved so the injured man can be pulled to safety, but colony leader Victor Dhar notices a leak in the tanker – one that will cause most of the fuel to be lost if the tanker is pulled off of its victim. Don West decides to move the tanker, against Victor’s wishes, but even under Judy’s care, the injured man dies anyway – and much of the fuel is lost. The same seismic activity powering the geysers traps a Chariot – with John and Maureen Robinson inside – in a tar pit, and as the tar rises above the upper hatch, their time and oxygen are running out.

written by Vivian Lee
directed by Tim Southam
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Raza Jaffrey (Victor Dhar), Ajay Friese (Vijay Dhar), Kiki Sukezane (Aiko Watanabe), Iain Belcher (Evan), Amelia Burstyn (Diane), Adam Greydon Reid (Peter Beckert), Veenu Sandhu (Prisha Dhar)

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Short Treks Star Trek

Runaway

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate not given: Freshly promoted from Cadet to Ensign, Sylvia Tilly is still aboard the Discovery, and she still can’t convince her mother, via communicator, that she can handle the rigors of command training without washing out of Starfleet. When she retreats to the mess hall to drown her sorrows in a snack, Tilly makes a new friend. Tilly’s new friend is a stowaway aboard Discovery, and worse yet, she’s a stowaway who belongs to the royal family of a strategically important planet. Tilly has to keep her new friend from running and going into hiding, a test of her diplomatic skills that just isn’t part of the command training program.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman
directed by Maja Vrvilo
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: Mary Wiseman (Ensign Sylvia Tilly), Vadira Guevara-Prip (Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po), Mimi Kuzyk (Siobhan Tilly)

Short TreksNotes: Devised as a means of keeping Star Trek fans subscribed to the CBS All Access streaming service, rather than cancelling their subscriptions the moment Star Trek: Discovery’s first season ended, Short Treks was the tip of the iceberg of a new deluge of Star Trek spinoffs to go into development following the success of Discovery’s first season. Each Short Treks episode runs approximately fifteen minutes, and the first four typically involved a very small cast on existing sets from Discovery (with a promise that later installments would venture further afield in the franchise) – in a way, almost as if the producers had to abide by most of the rules and guidelines CBS had set down for Star Trek fan films as a direct result of the contentious lawsuit over the fan-made project Star Trek: Axanar, which came under legal scrutiny after it raised over half a million dollars in crowdfunding. The shorts also served as a proving ground for future talent to be associated with later spinoffs, including writers Michael Chabon and Mike McMahan.

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Resistance Season 1 Star Wars

The Recruit

Star Wars: ResistanceKaz Xiono, a young pilot for the New Republic Navy (and the son of a senator), is trying to return valuable intelligence to the Republic when his X-Wing squadron is ambushed by a crimson TIE fighter. Kaz ensures that the rest of his group escape, but finds himself outgunned when trying to take on the First Order fighter alone until another X-Wing joins the battle. That fighter, piloted by Poe Dameron, not only saves Kaz’s life but escorts him aboard a cruiser belonging to the Resistance. Considered extremists by many members of the New Republic, the Resistance is recruiting for a fight against the First Order, a remnant of the Galactic Empire that many (including Kaz’s father) refuse to believe is a credible threat. Poe thinks Kaz has what it takes to join the Resistance, and brings him to the ocean planet Castilon to install him as a Resistance spy. Poe tells Kaz to lie low and blend in…and is horrified when, within a day, Kaz’s boast of being the best pilot in the galaxy is taken out of context. Now Kaz is expected to prove his claim in a life-or-death race…and neither Poe nor his local allies at the rough-and-tumble Colossus station can intervene without blowing their new recruit’s cover.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Brandon Auman
story by Dave Filoni
directed by Steward Lee and Saul Ruiz
music by Michael Tavera
based on original themes and music by John Williams

Star Wars: ResistanceCast: Christopher Sean (Kazuda Xiono), Josh Brener (Neeku Vozo), Scott Lawrence (Jarek Yeager), Suzie McGrath (Tam Ryvora), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Bobby Moynihan (Orka / Yani), Cherami Leigh (Mia Gabon), Dee Bradley Baker (First Order Comm Officer / Glem / Grevel), Fred Tatasciore (Bolza Grool / Hapless Pilot / Orthog), Greg Proops (Jak Sivrak), Jim Rash (Flix), Jonathan Lipow (Glitch), Lex Lang (Major Vonreg), Myrna Velasco (Torra Doza), Sam Witwer (Hugh Sion), Tovah Dekshuh (Aunt Z / Random Human), Tzi Ma (Hamato Xiono), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron)

Notes: Set prior to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Resistance is a marked departure in animation style from the Lucasfilm animated series that preceded it, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. Series creator Dave Filoni wanted the animation style to more closely resemble anime, and drew from his father’s World War II experiences in setting up a scenario in which an obviously imminent threat is ignored by the populace at large.

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Doctor Who New Series Season 11

The Woman Who Fell To Earth

Doctor WhoRyan Sinclair is nonplussed by the bicycle his grandmother, Grace, and her husband, Graham, have gotten for him; he suffers from a coordination disorder that makes riding it difficult, though he finds it easy – in a fit of anger – to throw it off a hill. As he’s retrieving it, Ryan sees a three-dimensional geometric shape form in the air; when he touches it, it disappears, replaced by a large blue pod. He calls the police, and is reunited with childhood friend Yasmin Khan, now a police officer in training, when she responds to his call.

Ryan, Grace and Graham are riding the train back into town when the train crashes into something, killing the driver. An undulating mass of electrical wires corners the passengers when a woman crashes through the ceiling of the train and immediately wards off the wires, as if that’s her first instinct. Unfortunately, while she immediately takes charge of the situation, she has no idea who she is, though she claims that she was a Scotsman mere minutes ago, confusing the already-terrified people in her vicinity. After this initial burst of activity, she collapses in Grace and Graham’s home, awakening to find that something has emerged from the pod seen by Ryan. A being called Tzim-Sha is hunting for a designated target on Earth, as part of a ritualistic hunt that determines the status of his race, the Stenza. What he doesn’t know is that he is now up against the Doctor – even if she’s not sure of who she is yet – who is pledged to protect Earth and its people.

Order the DVDwritten by Chris Chibnall
directed by Jamie Childs
music by Segun Akinola

Cast: Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Bradley Walsh (Graham O’Brien), Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair), Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan), Sharon D. Clarke (Grace O’Brien), Samuel Oatley (Tim Shaw), Jonny Dixon (Karl), Amit Shah (Rahul), Asha Kingsley (Sonia), Janine Mellor (Janey), Asif Khan (Ramesh Sunder), James Thackeray (Andy), Philip Abiodun (Dean), Stephen MacKenna (Dennis), Everal A. Walsh (Gabriel)

Chris Noth as Robertson in Doctor WhoNotes: After 12 years of the Doctor’s adventures being scored by Murray Gold, this is the first change of music composer in the revived Doctor Who series; ironically, it’s also the first episode in Doctor Who’s 55-year history to completely omit an opening title sequence, so Segun Akinola’s new arrangement of the Doctor Who theme music wouldn’t debut until the following episode, The Ghost Monument. Bradley Walsh had previously appeared as Odd Bob in the Russell T. Davies-era Doctor Who spinoff The Sarah Jane Adventures (Day Of The Clown parts 1 and 2), as well as the 2001 comedy Hotel!, where he shared screen time with once and future Doctors Paul McGann and Peter Capaldi. The episode’s title is a reference to the 1976 movie The Man Who Fell To Earth, starring David Bowie. The teeth are a dead giveaway that Tim Shaw is no relation to Liz Shaw.

LogBook entry by Earl Green