Buffy Rewind Review - "Nightmares"

Can Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) escape the nightmare world created by the boy in the coma?

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
Season 1 - Episode 10
"Nightmares"

Nearing the end of season one, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' has finally entered a comfortable rhythm and the writers now seem to understand what kind of show they are making. One the surface, there's a very playful, and frequently silly, nature that is more than willing to have fun with and make fun of the horror genre. Also, there has been an increase in character development, especially for the show's star. Throw in some mythology momentum during the standalone episodes, and this show is starting to develop into something resembling the later Joss Whedon shows that I enjoyed.

DS9 Rewind Review – “The Nagus”

Quark (Armin Shimerman), in his new role as the Grand Nagus, takes a walk on the Promenade with his brother Rom (Max Grodenchik).

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’
Season 1 – Episode 10
“The Nagus”

Oh, the yearly Ferengi episodes. It will become a regular presence during any given DS9 season. Few would be good. Most would be train wrecks. Fortunately, the original DS9 Ferengi episode, “The Nagus”, was one of the better ones.

Buffy Rewind Review – “The Puppet Show”

Willow (Alyson Hannigan), Xander (Nicolas Brendon), Giles (Anthony Head), and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) discuss the horror know as the high school talent show.

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Season 1 – Episode 9
“The Puppet Show”

As with the demon robot episode, “The Puppet Show” continues a trend of mixing the absurd with the humorous self-awareness. As the characters become more conscious of the ridiculousness of their lives and continue to comment on these events in very funny ways, the show has gotten better. ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ at this point in time is learning to still provide exciting and suspenseful stories without having to take itself too seriously.

Buffy Rewind Review - "I, Robot... You Jane"

Moloch just wants to be loved. Is that so wrong?

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
Season 1 - Episode 8
"I, Robot... You Jane"

"I, Robot... You Jane" is a pretty silly episode conceptually, but for some odd reason, and the show runners almost pulls out a win. Let's face it, this is a story about an ancient demon that gets scanned into a computer, becomes Willow's online boyfriend, and then gets put inside a robot body. Thankfully, there's a lot of fun character interplay to elevate this story above its own ridiculousness.

DS9 Rewind Review – “Move Along Home”

Kira (Nana Visitor), Sisko (Avery Brooks), Bashir (Alexander Siddig), and Dax (Terry Farrell) look on in horror at the potential decimation of their acting careers due to their appearances in "Move Along Home".  Allamarain!

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’
Season 1 – Episode 9
“Move Along Home”

Oh… that was bad.

Buffy Rewind Review – “Angel”

Angel (Daniel Boreanaz) and Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) can't fight this feeling anymore and they've forgotten what they started fighting for.

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Season 1 – Episode 7
“Angel”

Oh, thank God; a mythology episode. The last episode, “The Pack” was pretty horrendous, and “Angel” was a welcomed palette cleanser. This episode is more in keeping of what I want to see from this series.

DS9 Rewind Review – “The Passenger”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’
Season 1 – Episode 8
“The Passenger”

“The Passenger” is extremely pedestrian Star Trek. There are no surprises, the mystery is clumsy, and the solution is steeped in techno-babble. Sadly, the core concept of a criminal that lives on in someone else’s mind as a stowaway is actually interesting. Unfortunately, the execution isn’t very good.

DS9 Rewind Review - "Dax"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'
Season 1 - Episode 7
"Dax"

'DS9' bounces back in a big way with "Dax". One thing that really struck me about this episode is how much we learn about both Jadzia Dax and her predecessor, Curzon, but she hardly has any of the dialogue. When she does speak, those moments are given even more weight due to her self-imposed silence. In addition to learning more about both Daxes (Daxi?), we gain more insight into the nature of a joined Trill, plus the relationship between Dax, past and present, with Ben Sisko.

Buffy Rewind Review - "The Pack"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’
Season 1 – Episode 6
“The Pack”

DS9 Rewind Review - "Q-Less"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'
Season 1 - Episode 6
"Q-Less"

DS9 Rewind Review – “Captive Pursuit”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’
Season 1 – Episode 5
“Captive Pursuit”

Buffy Rewind Review - "Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
Season 1 - Episode 5
"Never Kill a Boy on the First Date"

DS9 Rewind Review – “Babel”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’
Season 1 – Episode 4
“Babel”

Buffy Rewind Review - "Teacher's Pet"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'
Season 1 - Episode 4
"Teacher's Pet"

Breaking Bad Rewind Review – “Pilot”

Review by Amanda White

Breaking Bad
Season 1 – Episode 1
“Pilot”

"Who's in 'Breaking Bad'? Bryan who? Bryan Cranston? Wait, that guy who played the dad on 'Malcolm in the Middle'? I don't want to see that."

DS9 Rewind Review - "A Man Alone"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Season 1 – Episode 3
“A Man Alone”

“A Man Alone” was actually filmed before “Past Prologue” but aired after. This was probably a smart move by the producers. “Past Prologue” was a cracking good hour that kept the momentum from “Emissary” rolling and provided some great character depth for Major Kira. The central plot thread of “A Man Alone” focuses on Odo, but the episode doesn’t come near to illuminating the shapeshifter’s nature in the way Kira was spotlighted in the previous show.

Buffy Rewind Review - "Witch"

Review by Paul Steven Brown

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 1 - Episode 3
"Witch"

Now, that was a little bit better.

Smallville Rewind Review - “Metamorphosis”

'Smallville'
Season 1 - Episode 2
"Metamorphosis"

Review by Antony Ellis

Tom Welling has lovely, manly hands. He really does! A bit veiny, mind you, especially when using them to delve into lead-lined boxes to retrieve meteor-stone necklaces for secret loves. This is just one of the things I learned from the second episode of ‘Smallville’ – this and lots of random facts about bugs.

TekWar

Review by Matthew Rasnake

It's been twenty-one years since William Shatner's first novel, TekWar, hit the shelves and spawned a tenuous media empire, held together, I imagine, by the force of Shatner's will, his creative drive, and his charisma. There have been, according to Wikipedia, nine novels, four made-for-TV movies, eighteen episodes of a subsequent TV series, two comic-book series (one of which entered publication just last year, with a third on the docket for this year, I believe), a set of trading cards, and a video game. Since 1989, Shatner's Tek universe has found its way into every major form of media, making it a prime candidate for the Cultural Wormhole treatment.

“Past Prologue”

Review by Paul Steven Brown

Two episodes into ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ and Major Kira Nerys is shaping up to be the standout character of the series so far. She is obviously loyal to Bajor first, but she knows that having the Federation around is in her world’s best interest. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way.