Weird Star Trek Episodes - Regeneration aka "An Obvious Ratings Grab Gone Right!"

Oh man... someone get the flamethrower or Kurt Russell. Either will get the job done.

So, Enterprise used the Borg for an episode… Let me say that again. The prequel to the whole franchise decided to bring in the Borg for an episode. You might be shocked at what I think about this episode. “Regeneration” takes place during the second season of Enterprise. That was a pretty sub-par season, so you know the producers needed something to increase the ratings. Jolene Blaylock’s hotness wasn’t cutting it, I guess. So let’s see what happens.

The show starts out on Earth in the Arctic. A Starfleet team finds the remains of the destroyed Borg sphere from Star Trek: First Contact. They also find a couple of drones. Guess what happens when they decide to thaw them out. The Borg assimilates the team and leave Earth in the team’s ship. Starfleet Command contacts the Enterprise and orders them to find the ship. They find the pretty modified Borg ship attacking another alien ship. The ship escapes, so the Enterprise tends to the other ship.

I'll say this about Reed. At least he has more sense than most folk when dealing with the Borg. 

 They teleport the survivors to Sickbay but they were assimilated beforehand and try to take over the ship. They also assimilate Phlox, who handles the situation as well as he can.  The crew is able to stop the assimilated survivors by reluctantly jettisoning them out into space. While Phlox desperately searches for a cure, Archer wonders if he can save the Starfleet team. Eventually, he realizes he can’t do anything for them when they find the ship again. Archer and Reed transport over to the ship in order to place charges while Phlox uses the cure he concocted up (yeah, I’ll get to that). In the end, the ship is destroyed and Phlox is cured. Still, the episode ends on an ominous note as T’Pol reveals that the ship sent out a subspace message to the Delta Quadrant.

While I jabbered on about it was a push for ratings, I really enjoyed this episode. The Borg is one of Trek’s best villains, so I liked that they were used here. It also ties in well with First Contact. It would make some sense that some of that Borg sphere would end up somewhere on Earth since the sphere was really close to Earth when it was destroyed. I also liked the obvious homage to The Thing at the beginning. The Borg was treated as a real threat especially since this is the 22nd century we’re dealing with. The Enterprise crew was also good here for the most part. I liked how Archer struggled to deal with an uncompromising enemy.

The continuity issues it brings up don’t really bother me. You could probably explain most of the issues away with something. What I’m not a big fan of is Phlox curing himself from assimilation. That was a little too much though you could explain that big continuity issue up as well. Other than that and the Borg’s inconsistent adapting, I thought this was a good action-packed episode. While it’s not the greatest episode in general, it’s definitely better than a lot of the episodes from season 2.

The Battle of the Hulk Movies - Part 2

So, this is post #401... wow. I didn't know I would go that far with this. Maybe I can make it to 500. Anyway, here is Part 2 of "The Battle of the Hulk Movies." So, I might as well start off with a man who tends to have a good mustache... no, I'm not talking about Thomas Magnum.

General Thunderbolt Ross

Next up is the battle of the ‘staches as Sam Elliot faces William Hurt. Ross’s role in the films is similar but different. While he wants to keep his daughter away from Bruce, Ross’s motivations are a little different. In Hulk, he knew that Dr. David Banner killed his wife and performed some unsanctioned experiments. That experience plus Bruce’s occupation gives Ross a reason to not like the guy. As for Ross in The Incredible Hulk, he is actually after the Hulk to see if the military could use the Hulk to create super-soldiers. In the MCU, Ross reactivated the Super-Solder program and had Bruce unknowingly doing experiments when the accident happened.

While I consider Ross to be more antagonistic (he’s actually trying to stop the Hulk’s rampages) than villainous, that doesn’t mean he’s a nice guy. I think Marty McFly would have three words to describe him. I will say his douchiness is increased in the 2008 movie. I do think both men were good in the role but one was just better. Ultimately, I have to give this point to Sam Elliott. He just ruled the role in my opinion. It also helped that he actually has an authentic mustache. I liked the fractured relationship between he and Betty and I just liked his no-nonsense attitude.

Hulk (2003) – 2

The Incredible Hulk (2008) – 1

The Battle of the Hulk Movies - Part 1

Welcome to… actually, I don’t know what to call these. I’ll eventually come up with a title for these match-ups, but for now I’ll call this “The Battle of the Hulk Movies.” When I came up with the idea of doing these comparisons, this one was somewhere in my mind. Since the Hulk is coming back to theatres in Avengers: Age of Ultron, I think it’s finally time to see which Hulk movie is truly “incredible.” Today, it’s Ang Lee’s Hulk (2003) vs. Louis Letterrier’s The Incredible Hulk (2008).

I first saw Hulk at my uncle’s house in 2003. It was either Thanksgiving or Christmas, I don’t remember which. I remember that we saw X2: X-Men United before it and I still think X2’s a better movie. It’s got Nightcrawler in it for cryin’ out loud! It was a few years before I decided to rent it at Movie Gallery and watch it again. I think I remember it being better the second time around, I’m not sure. As for The Incredible Hulk, I rented it from Movie Gallery when it came out. Man, I miss Movie Gallery. Anyway, I don’t think I’ve seen it until recently. I might have seen it on FX or something.

For this little project, I decided to re-watch both movies in order to get a better opinion. I have to admit that they aren’t the best of the genre but they aren’t the worst either. They are good movies in their own right. I’ll be looking the heroes, the villains, the supporting characters, the action, and the story. I really won’t touch on the effects all that much. A movie from 2008 is probably going to look better than one from 2003. Still, there are a few things I’ll touch on effects-wise.

Tales From The 50 Cent Bin! - The Incredible Hulk #335

While I’ve always had a fondness for the Hulk, I didn’t buy any of his comics. Frankly, I just didn’t know where to start since I’m mostly a DC guy. That changed when I came across a podcast about Peter David’s run called PADSmash: An Incredible Hulk Podcast. It was being done by J. David Weter, a guy who knows a lot about many superheroes. I mostly knew of Peter David as a Trek writer and I didn’t know about his run on the Hulk.  The podcast is on hiatus (I haven’t heard anything else about its status) but it’s out there somewhere. I’ve got most of the run through 50 cent bins, but today’s issue comes from the first Visionaries volume that came out on this run.

Today, I’ll be looking at The Incredible Hulk #335. I’m mostly looking at this one because unlike most of David’s issues, this one doesn’t tie into much. All you need to know is that Bruce is now transforming into the Gray Hulk. Unlike the Green Hulk, the Gray Hulk is not as strong, is pretty smart, and wants to get rid of his weak side (Bruce). Peter David is the writer. Instead of the regular penciler (Todd McFarlane) drawing, we have John Ridgway of Hellblazer fame as the guest penciler. So, let’s see what happens when the Hulk faces… some guy with issues.

Incredible Hulk #335

Writer: Peter David

Artist: John Ridgway

Colors:Petra Scotese

Letters:Rick Parker

Editor: Bob Harras

Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter

Tales from The $3.99 (I think) Bin! - Indestructible Hulk #1

Current-day Hulk is weird. I mean, there’s a Red Hulk, Hulk’s got a son, and I think Banner and Hulk got split again with Banner going mad. I actually don’t know what was going on with that since I never read it. Anyway, I decided to jump into current Hulk with the launched title, Indestructible Hulk. It was part of the Marvel NOW re-launch that happened after the Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover. I found the first three issues somewhere but I don’t know where I got them. It might have been part of some deal, but I’m not sure. I know it wasn’t when they came out. Today, I’ll be looking at the first issue.

I was mostly interested in seeing how this was going to be because Mark Waid is writing the book. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been trying to read some of his older books and more recent ones. I’ve began to like his writing. The penciler and inker on the book is Leinil Francis Yu. The two created had collaborated before on the awesome mini-series, Superman: Birthright. Sunny Gho handled the colors and Chris Eliopoulos handled the letters. The book is edited by Mark Paniccia.

Indestructible Hulk #1

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist: Leinel Francis Yu

Colors: Sunny Gho

Letters: Chris Eliopoulos

Editor: Mark Paniccia