The Elysian Kingdom

Love it or loath it, this episode was pure Star Trek from start to finish. Everyone got to dress up and enjoy themselves while a fairly sound Science Fiction story propelled the narrative along. Concluding Rukiya's storyline in this way came as something of a surprise but was probably a lot more satisfying than having it drag on for several seasons.

Who cares if we've seen something similar before, The over-the-top performances helped endear us to some lesser known members of the cast, the script generated quite a few unforced laughs and it all looked absolutely fabulous. A sprinkling of light-hearted fantasy has been part of the Star Trek compendium for more than fifty years, all the way back through Voyager's Adventures of Captain Proton, TNG's Hollow Pursuits to the Original Series Shore Leave. The Elysian Kingdom is now a welcome addition to that company.

I hesitate to say that this episode is what fans have been waiting for because I'm old enough to remember that some of them never liked this kind of fantasy and their vociferous complaints have resonated down through the decades. Looking at today's reviews we can see that there are no changes there, then.

But never mind the rest; I loved every minute of it. This is what Senior Trekker had almost given up hoping for. The real thing.

Seriously. This was a very bad idea poorly executed. If you do make a farce or, at least a comedic episode, hire somebody who can write comedy AND who knows Star Trek history.

For fans of a certain age and fans of the original series, this episode resonates like an old friend. The beauty of Star Trek and of science fiction in general, allows us to throw rules out the window and play, explore, reinvent. I enjoyed the characters' alternate selves, love the fun the actors had in the episode, and enjoyed the ending with the significance of the father/daughter storyline. Give it chance and allow yourself the fantasy part of the genre and the series.

I have high hopes for this new series. But for some reason I just could not get into this episode that I ended up turning it off less than half way through. I can't exactly place my finger on what was bothering me, but it didn't feel like Star Trek. I'll have to come back to this. Maybe I didn't give it an honest chance and later it will make up for what I saw. If it does, I'll update this review.

Update: gave the episode another try. I fell asleep. That rarely happens.

Even though this may not be one of the greatest Star Trek episodes there is one thing that you cannot deny, this episode was quintessential Star Trek. Every other series; Orginal, TNG, DS9, VOY all have episodes like this, and it wouldn't be Star Trek without them.

So, for these other reviews that say they are disappointed, or that it was lazy writing, you really don't know Star Trek at all.

Again, this episode may not go down in history as one of the greats but it was definitely enjoyable, with many funny parts and with an ending that put a tear in my eye.