Farscape - "PK Tech Girl" (TV Episode Review #15)

In “PK Tech Girl”, Moya stumbles across the Zelbinion, an ancient, abandoned, and heavily broken-down Peacekeeper carrier in orbit of a remote gas giant.  What follows is 50 minutes of pure popcorn fun.  There’s action, humor, and yes, even romance—all packed together in less than an hour.

Stargate SG-1 - "The Serpent's Venom" (TV Episode Review #14)

SG-1 and Jacob Carter/Selmak are sent by the Tok’ra to sabotage a negotiation between the System Lords Apophis and Heru’ur.  Their hope is that this will prevent them from forming an alliance and even strike a crippling blow to their respective motherships.  But there’s just one problem: they’re doing it all in a space minefield.  Meanwhile, Teal’c has been captured by the Goa’uld for their own purposes, which are totally unrelated to Apophis and Heru’ur, right?

Stargate Atlantis - "Underground" (TV Episode Review #13)

“Underground” may not be one of the strongest episodes of Stargate Atlantis, but it is one of the most crucial.  It features the Atlantis team’s first encounter with the Genii, one of the major recurring factions in the series.  They first arrive on the Genii’s homeworld, just looking to trade for some food.  What starts as a simple expedition to trade food and supplies balloons into a web of lies and deceit.

Farscape - "Premiere" (TV Episode Review #12)

20 years ago, astronaut John Crichton was in his space module when he was hit by a radiation wave, got shot through a wormhole, and was lost in a distant part of the universe on a ship—a living ship—full of strange alien lifeforms.  Hunted by an insane military commander, he spent the next five years doing everything he can just looking for a way home.

Firefly - "Bushwhacked" (TV Episode Review #11)

After the fun sci-fi action-adventure of “Serenity” and “The Train Job”, “Bushwhacked” veers straight into sci-fi horror.  It’s quite a jarring shift in genre and tone for Firefly, and to fit the standards of American broadcast television in 2002 it had to be toned down and appropriated for a TV-14 rating.  Nevertheless, this is still a surprisingly terrifying episode.

Stargate SG-1 - "1969" (TV Episode Review #10)

“1969” is a very unconventional episode for Stargate SG-1, being this was the show’s first time travel episode.  With the story simply being about the Stargate accidentally sending SG-1 back to 1969, there are no aliens, no ancient mythology, and very little action.  Just one time travel adventure across the United States in 1969.

Firefly - "The Train Job" (TV Episode Review #9)

The crew of Serenity gets hired by an underground mob boss to steal some Alliance supplies from a train on a border planet (an outer planet in the solar system).  In doing so, they learn a very valuable life lesson: be careful of who you trust.  “The Train Job”, the second episode of Firefly, is very fun and engaging while also providing a few twists and turns along the way.

Stargate SG-1 - "Fail Safe" (TV Episode Review #8)

A giant asteroid is hurtling towards Earth.  SG-1 has to stop it.  It is a premise that sounds so familiar that in the episode, Jack makes a reference to a certain movie that features this same premise during the briefing; he notes, “I’ve seen this movie.  It hits Paris.”  Well, Jack, I’ve seen that movie, too.  And I can assure you: this episode is better than the movie.