Episode 7

ONE

Housecleaning before the family returns from “the Season” in London. Hughes and Carson catch us up on William: He made it home in time to say goodbye to his mother. Gwen dashes in to tell them, “They’re here.”

July 1914. The murder of the Archduke is the main topic around the neighborhood. Okay, here comes the war.

TWO

As the family goes upstairs to change and “wash off the train” Hughes and Carson worry how they’ll tell them about Patmore, who’s worse. Also, is Bates leaving or not? His Lordship hasn’t decided yet because Bates won’t share any facts.

Now to Mary in London. She’s staying for a few weeks longer with Aunt Rosamund. They stroll the park (in fabulous clothes!) while Mary pretends the rumors about her are just stories. Will she marry Matthew? She’ll give her answer when she returns home.

O’Brien in the kitchen. She reads a note, and then asks Thomas to go out for a smoke with her.

THREE

Robert is surprised to see the doctor come from upstairs. Is Lady Grantham ill? Not exactly. (Cringe. I’ve dreaded this storyline.) Robert dashes upstairs. Cut to the bedroom as he says, “Pregnant!” The showrunners like to deliver momentous news with a jump cut, don’t they? He’s shocked but pleased.

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KARATE CHOPPERS

ONE

A close-up of Spongebob’s shoes as he tiptoes backward. Pivot! He’s in a karate stance. He backs up into his pineapple house. Startled, he karate chops it.

TWO

When he goes inside and starts to relax, a strange noise surprises him. Ooh, his face gets devilish and he sneaks forward. 

THREE

His shoes make a squeaking sound. Nope, he’s stepping on toy ducks that quack. He kicks them aside!

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The Enemy Within

ONE

The Enterprise in orbit. On the planet the landing party includes Kirk and Sulu, who holds a little dog in an orange costume with a unicorn horn. Yes!! 

They remark that it’s already getting cold and the nighttime temperature will be brutal. And then Kirk reaches over and pets the dog’s scaly tail. Yes! Just another actor on set for Shatner to improv with.

Someone cries out. Kirk and Sulu (still carrying the pooch) go see what happened. A crewman slipped off a ledge and cut his hand. It’s bad enough to go back to the ship. A lot of suspicious-looking yellow dust came down the embankment with him.

Orbit-wipe to Scotty in the transporter room. As the crewman materializes, a warning light blinks on the console, and Scotty re-energizes. Fisher makes it. However, Scotty doesn’t like the dust on his uniform. Decontaminate that.

After the crewman leaves Scotty returns to the console to doublecheck the instruments. Kirk radios that he’s ready to beam up. Just one moment, Captain.

I know which episode this is! Yes!! Oh, it’s excellent. The dog was the clue but I couldn’t quite put it together until now.

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SB-129

ONE

Sunday morning in Bikini Bottom. The three-palm island dissolves to the neighborhood. It’s time for Squidward to practice his clarinet.

TWO

In his house Squid kisses his beloved Clari and opens his porthole window.

Spongebob sleeps. His alarm ticks down to six o’clock. 

THREE

As Squid wets his lips and prepares to blow, the fog horn blasts from the pineapple window, knocking the clarinet down Squidward’s throat. Spongebob, looking out his own porthole, shouts, “Good morning!” Squid makes squeaky noises back at him.

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Episode 6

ONE

The title card says May 1914. Time is passing between episodes. 

TWO

Sybil is in the crowd at some rally. Oh, I see Mrs. Crawley in the background. I think it’s a women’s suffragette meeting, although it’s a man giving the speech. Men in the crowd throw things at him. Branson in chauffeur’s uniform comes up behind Sybil to protect her. Isabelle comes to Sybil and tells her it’s time to go home. Branson would lose his place if anything happened to you. Good argument!

As he drives her home they speak about politics. He respects Lord Grantham but believes he’s part of an oppressive class. Bold words. Sybil is not offended.

Carson and Hughes talk in his office. In the background we hear Patmore railing at Daisy. The doctor has confirmed she has cataracts. She’s scared. But she can’t keep treating Daisy like that. Carson holds a letter that seems to disturb him. No information yet, though.

Sybil comes through the kitchen. Her whirlwind disturbs William who disturbs Thomas. Bates puts in his two cents, and the staff area becomes tense for everyone. It’s just tension, with no idea of a specific Trouble.

Still contemplating his mysterious letter, Carson is late for his duties. Hughes has to come in and remind him.

Bates dresses Robert for dinner. They discuss politics throughout, and Bates mentions that Branson was at the rally. Ha, now Bates is stuck. He’s forced to tell Robert that Lady Sybil was also there.

THREE

At dinner Robert raises the issue with Sybil. He’s quite calm considering how outraged he was upstairs. And . . . there comes the explosion.

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The Deserter

ONE

The team is at a crossroads kiosk. A nearby village advertizes a Fire Nation festival.

TWO

On the backside of the board are wanted posters. The most prominent is of Aang, but he isn’t worried. The festival seems a great opportunity for him to find a fire bending teacher. They’ll attend and wear disguises.

THREE

Another wanted poster is of the Blue Spirit. That’s a fun detail. We get a push-in, though, on the third wanted poster: an unknown person with two vertical scars running through his eye area.

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The Naked Time

ONE

Captain’s log as the Enterprise orbits an icy, dying planet. They are to retrieve the science party below and observe the planet’s collapse. However, on the station the people are inexplicably frozen at their consoles.

Beaming in are Spock and another crewman wearing . . . haha! It looks like my grandma’s plastic couch cover. I’m totally distracted from what’s happening by this costume, including the tubular head piece with the clear plastic face plate. Masterful.

However, people are dead, including the guy taking a shower while fully clothed, so let’s pay attention.

TWO

Rut-roh. The unnamed crewman takes off his glove and reaches under his hood to scratch his nose. There sits his abandoned glove while he continues to investigate the console, his bare hand coming close to a mysterious substance. Aargh! The stain ejects a drop that travels to the idiot’s hand. WHAT?!! He shakes the hand and touches his face with it! And then he puts his glove back on. Haha, and of course Spock returns and says, “Make sure we expose ourselves to nothing.”

Roll credits.

Bridge business as the Captain’s log recaps what we know so far.

THREE

Scotty beams up the away team. At Spock’s insistence he and doofus go through a decontamination sequence. Kirk wants them also to go to medical for a check-up. Bones In, on the case, as our Three.

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I WAS A TEENAGE GARY

ONE

Gary exercises on a hamster wheel. Spongebob takes him down and plays fetch. Whatever he throws, Spongebob must wait, checking his watch, as Gary the Snail retrieves it. Heh.

When Gary finally returns, waking Spongebob from a nap, he gets chin tickles and eye stalk pets. “I love you, Gary.” Gary climbs all over Spongebob with snail cuddliness.

Patrick bursts through the door. He’s very excited as he wields his jellyfishing net. There’s some kind of convention this weekend, but Spongebob has no one to take care of Gary.

TWO

Cut to Squidward knocking on the pineapple door. He’s here to complain about underwear on his front lawn. Wut? But Spongebob takes this perfect opportunity to ask Squid to watch Gary.

THREE

Haha! Spongebob introduces the snail, which drips slime in closeup, and Squid recoils. Get somebody else. 

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Episode 5

ONE

Gwen, Anna, and Daisy prepare Mary’s bedroom. Daisy, fumbling the andirons at the fireplace, says she hates this room. Flashback to her memory of Kemal being carried out. She says nothing, though, and Gwen shrugs.

Exterior shot of the Abbey, wildflowers in the foreground. I assume we are to feel a sense of summer.

In the dining room the family eats breakfast. Letters and sniping.

TWO

Sybil’s letter gets her up and down the hall. She’s applied for a secretarial job in Gwen’s name. When she’s told, Gwen is excited. Very straightforward Two: the traditions of Downton are changing.

Crawley House. Isabelle will write to Edith about this church tour offer. Matthew makes it clear he has no interest in her. This is a stealth Two. We won’t see how this Trouble develops until later.

Molesley would like to help the village flower show and is given permission. This, which seems kind of a throwaway moment, is the most resonant plotline in this episode. Fascinating structural choices.

THREE

Thomas, returning keys, hides a bottle of wine behind his back as Bates walks in. It’s Carson’s office, and we’ve heard him mention in a previous episode that wine has been missing. Let the sneaking, and its repercussions, commence.

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Where No Man Has Gone Before

This episode is a structural disaster. I’ve left detailed impressions at the Four and Five, in case you can spot a Three and Six yourself. I won’t be offended if you skim past, though. If you do, see my recap after the Nine.

ONE

Space, with Captain’s log, over. Ahead is a recorded distress signal from a ship listed as missing two centuries ago.

Okay, weirdness. The camera pulls back from a little view screen of outer space, the image we’ve been watching, to show Kirk and Spock playing 3-D chess. Spock, in a yellow shirt and with bushier eyebrows, looks non-canon. And his makeup makes his skin yellow. I can’t concentrate on the plot!

Kirk contemplates this odd distress message while Spock challenges him to make his chess move. They banter, waiting, until the bridge signals. This lounge, well-lit and well-populated, is a real set, nothing like the cardboard-walled rec room from the last episode.

TWO

Transporter room. It’s Scotty! Yay, finally! Like Spock, he also wears the gold jersey. The mystery item with the signal is beamed in. It looks like a probe, and Spock says it was ejected when its ship was damaged. Rut-roh, it starts to blink and beep, transmitting something. All decks go on alert.

Roll credits.

THREE

(There is no Three.)

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