I probably keep hitting on the action-y bits for the same reason I do when talking about star trek, modern audiences kind of expect shows with any sort of action to be SUPER action packed. My wife especially is guilty of this. The only slow type of show she likes are murder shows.
And honestly I’d say if you’re 15 minutes in and aren’t liking an episode, you can probably skip it in the first 4 or 5 seasons.
I’m weird. I tune out action just like I tune out non-action:-). I’m not sure how to describe it.
Like looking back, ST-TNG wasn’t really all that good, yet I liked it anyway and can’t really recall it being “slow” or anything. It’s not “dramatic” per se but it’s somehow interesting nonetheless.
Then DS9 blew my mind - and not (just) bc of the action, but the significantly deeper amount of drama they were able to work in by having a stable surrounding. e.g. Kira being an actual terrorist and being tempted in a way that most Starfleet officers would not be. What is the right thing to do… truly!?
But Enterprise, despite having MUCH more action, just wasn’t worth even a single watch-through. Maybe some of it, like the time travel, but especially at the end the show just sucked.:-( I’ve never watched a show that bad, but bc it was Star Trek… I forced myself through by playing games while the show was playing in the background:-).
So it’s not “action” that makes a story good, at least not alone, imho. Though I am no expert and don’t really know what does. Something about the craft of it - foreshadowing and callbacks and other tricks, pacing and revelations and character development, all of it. I don’t know enough to talk about or even recognize the specific artifacts of the craft, just the hints that it is vaguely there, or not, which due to different writers, producers, etc. can vary from episode to episode even within a single season.
I probably keep hitting on the action-y bits for the same reason I do when talking about star trek, modern audiences kind of expect shows with any sort of action to be SUPER action packed. My wife especially is guilty of this. The only slow type of show she likes are murder shows.
And honestly I’d say if you’re 15 minutes in and aren’t liking an episode, you can probably skip it in the first 4 or 5 seasons.
I’m weird. I tune out action just like I tune out non-action:-). I’m not sure how to describe it.
Like looking back, ST-TNG wasn’t really all that good, yet I liked it anyway and can’t really recall it being “slow” or anything. It’s not “dramatic” per se but it’s somehow interesting nonetheless.
Then DS9 blew my mind - and not (just) bc of the action, but the significantly deeper amount of drama they were able to work in by having a stable surrounding. e.g. Kira being an actual terrorist and being tempted in a way that most Starfleet officers would not be. What is the right thing to do… truly!?
But Enterprise, despite having MUCH more action, just wasn’t worth even a single watch-through. Maybe some of it, like the time travel, but especially at the end the show just sucked.:-( I’ve never watched a show that bad, but bc it was Star Trek… I forced myself through by playing games while the show was playing in the background:-).
So it’s not “action” that makes a story good, at least not alone, imho. Though I am no expert and don’t really know what does. Something about the craft of it - foreshadowing and callbacks and other tricks, pacing and revelations and character development, all of it. I don’t know enough to talk about or even recognize the specific artifacts of the craft, just the hints that it is vaguely there, or not, which due to different writers, producers, etc. can vary from episode to episode even within a single season.