As Per Mission BLog

I've Been Dodging This For A While
Do you see what I did with the title?  Do you?  O you do.  Yes, it's a cunning pun based on the "Mission Log" podcasts, which article I had written down all ready to be typed out, except that real life, late shifts, pre-emptive verbosity and high winds over Norway all conspired to cause delay.
     "What are you babbling on about today, Conrad?" I hear you scoff.  "And be quick, 'Police Interceptors' is on soon."

Only for intercepting really, really naughty people

     I'm always babbling, haven't you realised that yet?  Although I do applaud your taste in television programmes.  Let me explicate -
     "Night Terrors" is the episode that 'Mission Log' dealt with ages ago, Ken and John dissecting it in depth.  First they go over the trivia involved, mentioning that the "USS Bratain" is named after the inventor of the transistor, which is pretty dinosaur today but back in the Sixties it was up there with The Beatles and Doctor Who*.  Not a very popular episode, especially as the scenes involving Counsellor Troi are spectactularly bad.  Her expression of raw terror in these scenes is exactly how she felt, having a fear of heights; the scriptwriters were very probably aware of this and perhaps felt like getting their own back on her requests for "more action".  

Suffer, Sirtis, suffer!

Then, too, there is Guinan's gun; apparently this is a recycled prop from "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", just given a paint job.  Producer Les Landau simply refuses to discuss this episode at all, ever, which is a Fergal Sharkey Mistake**.  Oh - the modellers mis-spelt "Bratain" as "Britain"* on the model and that's how it stayed. 

Guinan; has something against ceilings, apparently

     The recap goes thus: the Enterprise is searching for the missing USS Bratain.  They find her; with all 34 crew dead.  Not simply expired - they all murdered each other, for no apparent reason.
     When the Big E tries to move off, they can't.  They are stuck in a Deus Ex Machina - sorry! no, a 'Tyken's Rift', which is like a cosmological booby trap.  The Enterprise crew start to suffer from dream deprivation (apart from Troi, who has nightmares) and begin to hallucinate.  Eventually she figures out from the trapped alien ship and the two ships combine efforts to blast their way free.
     Consensus is that it's a pretty weak episode, although J & K do rate some of the acting involved, especially Patrick Stewart*, and it does have a standout creepy scene in the Big E's morgue, when all the corpses sit up.

Thus

     J & K both dissect the acting and some relationships - Miles O'Brien and Keiko are pretty much only present to play the part of Bickering Old Fogeys.  Riker gets plus points for going from Subdued to Shrieking in a moment of madness.  The Director's encouragement is summed up as "Bring the crazy!"

"The wheels on the bus - oh, hello, Worf."

     Okay, time to wheel out the motley.  Motley, get out here!

I Have High Hopes
You know Conrad, ever with a song on his lips and a skip in his heels***.  I walk through the world wearing rose-tinted spectacles, which can make watching television a challenging experience, not to mention traffic lights becoming a life-threatening .  Anyway, Art has a little something for you.

Hey - less of the "Old"

     Observe the Odd Couple in the background there, that's Becker and Fagen, better known to you as Steely Dan.  Hence the tee-shirt.  The two do go together.
     Why the written smirk from your humble scribe?  Because Steely Dan have been touring, as yet only in South Canada.  Fair enough, that's where they live.  Once they have exhausted the limited possibilities of touring such a small locale, doubtless they will think to move on to the Pond of Eden.

I Say, Tangent, Your Tangent's Gone Off At A Tangent
You know Conrad, unable to stay on topic for more than -
     - "Sports Alcohol" podcast about "Batman Versus Superman".  In sharp contrast to "Coherence", because the latter film, coping with a budget of $1.16, even if it does encourage actors to improvise, has to plan and plot efficiently in order to maximise effect - you don't have the luxury of wasting either time or money.
     Which stands "BVS" in bad stead.  This film has an enormous budget ($850 billion), and was tied in to a summer release schedule, tied tighter than a SEAL's shoelaces; whilst it might be technically proficient according to the podcast it simply doesn't give the actors enough material to work with - Ben's not bad, just under-written.  Made to be deliberately Dark (yes, capitalised!) it also seems to ignore or trample on characters.  Batman KILLS! 

Batman SKILLETS.  Close enough.

 As I believe I convincingly argued on BOOJUM! one of the things that dissuades the Gotham City PD from coming after Bats en masse is his refusal to kill.  Take that away and, to them, he's just another Villain In Fancy Dress (a la Sauron in Lord Of The Rings).
     At which point, having strayed so far off the path that we're in Ulan Bator not Manchester, I shall call a halt.

"We can stand down, he's stopped."
"Phew!"

*  Not apologising for the Britishness here.  Live with it, South Canadians!
** I may elaborate on this.  Or not.
*** Both complete lies.