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The Pensky File
United States
Приєднався 15 вер 2013
We focus on pop culture analysis and produce several podcast shows. Our current shows cover Star Trek, film, music videos, horror films, and the animated Batman series.
thepenskyfile.com/links
thepenskyfile.com/links
The Pensky Podcast: Endgame (Podcast Finale)
Well, folks, we’ve finally made it. Welcome to the grand, or maybe not-so-grand, finale of The Pensky Podcast. After a decade of dissecting every nook and cranny of Star Trek, we’ve reached the bittersweet end. In this final episode, we tackle the Star Trek: Voyager series finale, “Endgame,” with all the enthusiasm of a Borg drone regenerating in its alcove.
“Endgame” is the episode where Voyager’s journey supposedly culminates in an epic conclusion. Or does it? We’ll be discussing the many failings of this two-part finale as a television series ender, while also acknowledging that, paradoxically, it’s almost the perfect ending for Voyager. Confused? You’re in good company.
We’ll dive into the sci-fi time travel distractions that make “Endgame” both intriguing and infuriating. Captain Janeway’s decisions, the temporal twists, and the show’s attempt to wrap up seven years of adventures - we’ll cover it all. Plus, we’ll take a hard look at the character arcs, or rather, the lack thereof. After multiple seasons, have these characters really grown, or are they stuck in an infinite temporal loop of their own?
As we wrap up this marathon of mediocrity, we’ll discuss the overall impact of Voyager as a series. Did it boldly go where no one had gone before, or did it get lost in its own narrative wormhole? We’ll also ponder the legacy of Star Trek as a franchise and how Voyager fits into the grand scheme of things.
So, whether you’ve been a die-hard Trekkie for the past ten years or you’re just here for the schadenfreude, this episode is for you. Join us as we bid farewell to Voyager and The Pensky Podcast. It’s been a long, strange trip, and we’re finally at the end. Engage, if you must.
And for those who can’t get enough of Wes and Clay, fear not! You can continue to enjoy Pensky File content on our UA-cam channel or by subscribing to our other podcasts via your favorite podcast app. The journey may be ending here, but the adventure continues elsewhere.
Stay connected:
• thepenskyfile.com/links/
• e-mail: thepenskyfilevideo(at)gmail.com
“Endgame” is the episode where Voyager’s journey supposedly culminates in an epic conclusion. Or does it? We’ll be discussing the many failings of this two-part finale as a television series ender, while also acknowledging that, paradoxically, it’s almost the perfect ending for Voyager. Confused? You’re in good company.
We’ll dive into the sci-fi time travel distractions that make “Endgame” both intriguing and infuriating. Captain Janeway’s decisions, the temporal twists, and the show’s attempt to wrap up seven years of adventures - we’ll cover it all. Plus, we’ll take a hard look at the character arcs, or rather, the lack thereof. After multiple seasons, have these characters really grown, or are they stuck in an infinite temporal loop of their own?
As we wrap up this marathon of mediocrity, we’ll discuss the overall impact of Voyager as a series. Did it boldly go where no one had gone before, or did it get lost in its own narrative wormhole? We’ll also ponder the legacy of Star Trek as a franchise and how Voyager fits into the grand scheme of things.
So, whether you’ve been a die-hard Trekkie for the past ten years or you’re just here for the schadenfreude, this episode is for you. Join us as we bid farewell to Voyager and The Pensky Podcast. It’s been a long, strange trip, and we’re finally at the end. Engage, if you must.
And for those who can’t get enough of Wes and Clay, fear not! You can continue to enjoy Pensky File content on our UA-cam channel or by subscribing to our other podcasts via your favorite podcast app. The journey may be ending here, but the adventure continues elsewhere.
Stay connected:
• thepenskyfile.com/links/
• e-mail: thepenskyfilevideo(at)gmail.com
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Відео
The Rotten Horror Picture Show: Army of Darkness
Переглядів 199День тому
Hail, noble listeners, and welcome to a new episode of The Rotten Horror Picture Show! Gather ’round the hearth as Clay and Amanda regale you with tales of heroic deeds, unspeakable horrors, and… another Bruce Campbell movie? Yes, indeed, today they delve into the chaotic, wild, and utterly entertaining world of Sam Raimi’s *Army of Darkness,* the third installment in the Evil Dead saga, where ...
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Hey there, horror fans and pizza lovers! Welcome to another tantalizing episode of The Rotten Horror Picture Show (thepenskyfile.com/rhps) ! Today, Clay and Amanda are diving into the splatter-filled, laugh-out-loud world of Sam Raimi's horror comedy classic, Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn, starring the legendary Bruce Campbell. But hold on a sec-I've got a piping hot pizza in my hands, and I’m ser...
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Переглядів 312Місяць тому
"End of Days" features Schwarzenegger as an ex-cop battling to prevent Satan from initiating the apocalypse as the millennium turns. This film, blending action with supernatural horror, offers a departure from Schwarzenegger’s typical roles. Despite its intriguing premise, it struggled to make a strong impact at the box office and with critics. Wes and Clay delve into the film's attempt to merg...
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Regarding # 3: The aliens are not telepathic, the have telekinetic ability (controlling something by one's mind and thoughts).
"Spock's Brain" was THE WORST EPISODE EVER! How could you miss it?
Although your top five epsidoes were all great in my opinion, I felt THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE was the best. The music was outstanding and led to the suspense.
archer was a real jerk in this episode, not to mention self centered as heck
My problem with this episode, and many episodes of Star Trek, is that the antagonists act so surprised that the protagonists don't blindly accept their ridiculous customs. How is it possible that no one else in the entire history of Cardassia has contested the charges against them? That's just stupid. And it's stupid to think anyone would admit guilt without even knowing what they are being charged with. It's one thing to have a corrupt system, but to act like everyone accepts it without question is moronic. I did not find anything about this episode funny,
They are sure light years better then the crap they are producing today both movies and shows! ( except the last 5 episodes of Picard they are worth watching.)
Arena!!!
I thought the very.last one should have been in there.....
I actually turned it off the 1st time when Rom was singing! 😅 The episode also took a very long time establishing the plot. Not even a captain's log entry. However, it makes up for that with amazing characters and a touching battle scene. I agree with the war critics, you would think there would be more than ground troops charging each other and mines. 4 out of 5 for overall science fiction, 5 out of 5 for DS9.
I remember there being one woman in Beowulf, that being the Grendels mother.
how did you not include Spock's Brain? As a kid I could see the medical impossible scenes. Not even a scar or shaved head. Not to mention that Dr. McCoy manages to reattach the brain. I have rarely watched this episode again due to the ridiculous plot.
I would have flipped your #2 and #3--However other than that your list is excellent!! Also “A Taste of Armageddon” could have just as easily replaced “The Doomsday Machine”. Honorable mention to the best space comedy ever: The Trouble with Tribbles!
I have never heard of Brigadoon until I saw it parodied in the Family Guy episode "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One." Stewie and Brian are out in the woods picking berries when Stewie realizes they're in a very special place where legend says that once every 100 years in said spot, actor Donny Most, who played Ralph Malph on Happy Days rises from the mist. They then witness the event happening as he slowly rises from the mist while a choir is singing to the tune of the title song from Brigadoon. Donny Most, who voices himself then says he's now "Don Most" before slowly descending back into the mist. Choir: Donny Most, Donny Mo-ost, He was Ralph on Happy Days Donny Most, Donny Mo-ost, Now he rises from the haze [Beat] Don Most: Actually, it's Don Most now. [he descends back into the mist] Choir: Donny Most, Donny Mo-ost, Sunday, Monday, Happy Days...
Gonna say Chartered Trips, Newest Industry, Beyond the Threshold
Doesn't pon farr come up in The Cloud Minders (TOS 3.21)?
Brannon, did you get my notes? I want to use the name Endgame because nobody else would ever think to use that name for a final event
I liked "A piece of the Action" some funny scenes, one was Kirk driving the car and Spock' s comments about his driving.
You are *so* mistaken. TNG is 100% bad. There is not one episode of TNG I would watch again. Yet, there are many of TOS I would. I agree with your ToS bad list, though.
The thing is, i define a 'bad' Star Trek episode as one I don't care to watch again; there are episodes with bad plots and/or scripts that are really entertaining. Don't really know what was the point of Lee Meriwether touching people, but it just doesn't matter😍.
The series finale shows that the writers were burnt out several seasons ago. They couldn’t come up with a good way to wrap up the series. So they brought back two tropes, time travel and the Borg. (Some things never change Picard.) One was bad enough, but both made something really forgettable. The funny thing is that they had the right element to the finale, but the writers were too cowardly to lean into it. It’s the fact that it was about the journey, not the destination. From episode 1, Janeway could have taken the crew back home, but she didn’t because she felt their presence was needed in the Delta Quadrant. That’s why the Caretaker’s array was destroyed instead of using it to send themselves back home. Voyager never realized its calling. If the goal was just to get back home, then why didn’t they just go home and stay out of Delta quadrant issues? Voyager was a missed opportunity. The crew didn’t earn the DS9 sendoff. Voyager did this correcting history story in Timeless, but that story makes sense because all but Chakotay and Kim were the only ones who survived. Janeway’s reasons for correcting history are not clear. The burnout showed in this. And as you say, this episode sums up Voyager. It started strong and ran out of steam. FWIW, I think Season 6 might’ve been the best season, but so many had tuned out by then. Been a fun ride, but all good things… wait… wrong series. I guess that’s the Endgame.
Apologies that I didn’t update my card too.
Just as well in Future's End they didn't end up in Miami 1985. Neelix would have been gunned down in five minutes.
The end? Is this a joke? I didn't find any humor in your comment about Amy, whom I claim (non-sarcastically) is the best UA-cam podcast wife Perhaps I'm too stupid
I am disabled myself and for many of the reasons pointed out here, this episode just does not gel with me, either. I don't think it does its thing particularly well. I am honestly surprised it got as much glowing praise as it did back when the episode was new.
"Spock's Brain" was the worst episode ever - But many other episodes mentioned here were hardly bad at all. Where is any mention of the BEST episodes ... ? What about "City on the Edge of Forever" ?? And "The Menagerie" ?? " The Trouble with Tribbles" ? "Balance of Terror" ?
2024, this episode is still one of my favorites.
05:07 "does that food really exist?" Interesting question because in DS9 Quark says he serves real food he makes inside of his holosuits.
45:00 Harry Kim acts like it's amazing that anyone would watch video/film programs, yet before this episode Neelix had his own video podcast on Voyager. It was only for one episode, but it's definitely a broken plot line.
Enjoying your podcasts, belatedly. I binge watched ENTERPRISE during the pandemic and while I basically enjoyed the show, mostly for tonal reasons, it did all kind of run together and this is one of the few episodes I remember clearly. FWIW I really liked it.
Pleasantly surprised to get one more episode, cheers guys!
It was a long way to go for a ham sandwich!
it def was
Hey remember that Victorian holonovel Janeway was doing in the early seasons, the one that they were setting up an elaborate mystery to? You didn't want to know how that ends, did you? It's okay, I'm sure Dallas never bothered to reveal who shot J.R. either.
Related: while Clay is right that this episode was a bit of a ripoff of All Good Things, the TNG episode revisited the pilot episode and showed the evolution of the show. I guess we should be thankful Voyager didn't try to go back to Caretaker so...hey wait! Wouldn't that have let them solve the mystery of the cloaked ship which tractor beamed out the Caretaker's core? Maybe as part of a time bending plot to help them get home?
You did miss some good episodes. Is there I chance you might do the 5 or 10 best episodes you skiped as a patreon special?
If you like DS9 you'd love Babylon 5.
I think I've listened to every one of your podcast analysis for Star Trek Deep Space Nine and enjoyed the heck out of it. Thanks for the insights and for the laughs!
I am biased because I’m writing season 8 (which Wes, you should give a try [I would even pay for your feedback]) but there is a lot of character for our main cast. If you’re left scratching your head as to what the characters *could* do upon return, then listen to the first 3 episodes. I do agree with how lame the show ended, again because it justifies what I’m creating. Again it’s a shame you skipped to the end but I totally get how Clay hasn’t missed much with the skip because nothing leads into Endgame. The idea that Seven and Chakotay could die earlier in the season is also a fantastic idea which would provide so much more emotional resonance in the ending because they would be brought back. Plus Beltran wanted out anyway so why not kill him halfway through season 7 and save some money. But this is what ages the show as modern shows will take this approach.
In regards to the show ending, I wish you all the best with your future projects! I do wish you all finished the final seasons by filtering IMDB to only 7.5-8 and above episodes. While I disagreed with probably 40- 50% of your episodes, I did always feel like your points were well thought out and honestly, your overall scores were rarely wildly different than what I concluded with. We just criticized different things. Anyways, as a former podcast/youtube host of 4.5 years, I get the grind gets old and I respect y'alld decision. Thanks for the hundreds of hours of Star Trek content!
Listening right now, its been fun! In regards to the "What will people do?" when they get back, there are a few things from prior epiosdes I wanted to see, off the top of my head. Preferably a whole season: (1) Barge of the Dead (Ron Moore) - B'Ellana fully embraces her Klingon heritage, but her mother might be dead. Is she? (2) Lineage - Emotional episode where B'Ellana's history as a child on earth is explored including her father who left because of her mother's culture. Does she reunite? (3) Extreme Risk - B'Ellana and Chakotay deal with all the Maqui dying... Will they be pardoned? (4) In the Flesh - Species 8472 is revealed to have plans to attack the Federation. Will they? (5) Life Line - The Doctor meets his creator in the Alpha Quaderant, and it's revealed that Voyager's EMH is considered obsolete and subject to free labor in mines. What will happen to the Doctor? (6) Equinox - Will there be an investigation into Janeway's behavior? (7) Prophecy - B'Ellana and Tom's child is revealed to fufill a Klingon prophecy. How will the empire react? (8) Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy - Will the Doctor get the opportunity to pursue command positions now that he isn't needed? (9) Relativity and variois other episodes - Will Captain Braxton correct the End Game timeline? (10) Does Kim get promoted?
Ahh typos... but on Patreon I said... Apropos name since the cast on Voy is ending. Regardless, the time travel shenanigans seems to be the only way Harry gets promoted. Also it is a bit of a cheat in wrapping up the series although I do like the armored Voyager effect. The docs name... not so much, nor Paris's hairline. I remember seeing the ending originally and thinking it needed one more scene... but oh well. 2 Tom's hairlines out of 5. Podcast as always 5 out of 5.
6/5 to you sir
Thank you for a wonderful podcast I have enjoyed your show for a very long time. I will definitely miss listening to you two. I always enjoyed voyager but I do agree they could have done better with the finale. I think janeway was also trying to save Tuvok also, but the show painted it as "she only cares about seven and chakotay but mostly seven " Oh and on the tight outfit for Jeri, they had to have a oxygen tank or that is the rumor I heard on set when she filmed. I think the finale is still better then Enterprise but not by much. mostly because Enterprise had enterprise and Riker act like morons.
I washed my hands of Voyager early in season 5 during its original run, but I tuned in for the final episode. Aside from the Chakotay/Seven "romance" (and I use that term in its loosest sense possible), I felt like absolutely nothing changed for any of the characters in the 2+ years I went without watching the show. From what I know of the behind the scenes stuff of the finale, the production was heavily rushed in order to ramp up production on Enterprise. I'm not even sure the cast got a final party/celebration because attention and resources were being devoted elsewhere. If that's true, it sure showed up in the finished product. They could not wait to end the show and didn't care in the slightest how abrupt it was. It's crazy to me that your podcast actually came to a finite end. When I started listening while you were covering TNG Season 3, I never once really thought we'd get to this point. On one hand it certainly was inevitable, but I never considered just how long it would take to get here. This is all to say that I've enjoyed listening to every episode of your Trek discussions. It was must-listen stuff every Tuesday for me when new podcasts would go live, and I'm gonna miss it. But I wish you guys the absolute best in whatever you plan in life going forward. There's no doubt I'll occasionally go back and re-listen to old podcasts because there's always entertaining stuff in them.
Thanks guys for the great ride through the Treks-verse and other things!
thanks for always being with us, matt!
Congratulations for the 10 years & thank you guys. You made it entertaining going over the good, bad & ugly of the Star Trek franchise...! You have truly gone where no one has gone before...!
thanks listener (superior) kyle
@@thepenskyfile Thank you & still listening to all of your podcast... 👍
Great wrap up guys, thanks
Clay’s thoughts on Star Trek: “Time for Buffy!”
@@SicSemperTyrannis-lc8fj The Crossover we didn't know we needed! Time to make a comic, Clay!
Future: Janeway watches as Harry Kim achieves captain's rank and command of the new Voyager. Janeway: "No. This is all wrong. I have to go back and fix this. And this time ensign Kim is going to stay dead!"
You skipped a part of the journey to get directly to the end! Very meta! 😅
In my version of this premise, the crew never returns to the Alpha Quadrant. It's a show about losing one's way and finding it again. So Balana would be my lead character. There would be a mutiny on the ship after Janeway lets her ethics keep them from returning home. With Balana in charge, they trade technology and make friends (a Proto Federation), and the crew focuses on getting home. But the technology they traded falls into the wrong hands, threatening their new friends. At the series midpoint, Balana decides to turn around and try to fix the problems she and the crew caused. She returns command to Janeway. The last half of the series is about them creating this new federation from problems they made in the Delta quadrant. In the final scene, they launch a space probe created from the remains of the voyager ship. It's a federation design, but visibly modified by all the technology of their new home. It's an artifact of this new Federation. And it can carry Janeway's ashes back to earth. The crew have made new lives for themselves in this new Federation. Fans would've hated this show, I think, but it would be more intriguing than what we got.
If i could change one thing, i'd have you guys cover the last half of voyager not the first half. S2+S3 is just SO BAD. And its not like the character work ever gets better. theres no "Rocks and Shoals" in Voyager. But like, the Icheb arc near the end was kinda nice.... As crappy as Star Trek became, it was always a blast to listen to you two tear it apart!
gracias!
I think you skipped a few episodes...!
whatever happened to neelix?
@@thepenskyfile Haha!
@@thepenskyfile Tuvok finally snapped and killed him.
The series finale answered the fans' biggest narrative question, "How would the Voyager model look surrounded by other Federation Starships." Once that was accomplished there was no story left to explore.
it's best left unsaid - clay talked about this one aspect after every voy ep we did, just cut it from the recording.
@@thepenskyfile it's a great-looking ship that probably reminds Clay of Buffy. I understand why you might want to edit it from the recording.
Been listening to these fools since 2018 and it was time well spent. All the best to Wes and I hope to see Clay in the Comic Books
thanks for all the years of support!