I suppose I had too high of hopes. After watching every MXC ever shown on US TV and a bunch of clips on YouTube, I was hoping for so much more, but then I sat through this rotten show. What could be the cause of this terrible show, let's break it down shall we? Is it the events? Don't think so, they are more than appropriate for this type of show. How about the contestants? No again, they're just trying to win, besides, it is not their responsibility to make sure the show works out. I know, it's the camera-work! Well, no that's not it either. It is a sporting event and the networks have that down pat. All that leaves are the hosts? Yep, as much as I liked Henson on Talk Soup, I just couldn't stand him here. None of them have that spark required to MC a game show. It's either bad comedic timing, or an obvious lack of respect for the people on the show, or maybe it's the lack of chemistry between the three of them. There is no give and take, no game show patter, just a desperate attempt at a quick one-liner or a chuckle at the players expense. Many times, the play by play on the pratfalls of the contestants just comes off sounding mean. If they're trying to do satire, or copy a Japanese show, they should treat the subject matter with utmost seriousness, and pretend it as a real sport, rather than the tongue-in-cheek way they're failing at here.

I thought this was going to be "Nancy Drew" for the new millennia, and it was, with the added bonus of a season long story arc. There were a lot of opportunities with the large ensemble cast, but unfortunately, many of them were missed. For instance, the Weevil started out being a "bad" guy, but for some reason, was turned into a good guy with links to bad people. The first season was quite good and had some nice twists and turns to keep it interesting. There were a few obvious red-herrings thrown in, but that's the case with all mysteries. The second season was also good, but I think at this point, the show's viability had come into question with the network, so it's possible that writers were jumping ship. If the shows ability to survive was in question the third season put the nails in the coffin. Regular cast members seemed to be coming and going for no good reason, and the finale was hurried to say the least.

Let me start out by saying that I like this show. All the characters are well developed and have now have enough history so that regular viewers can pick up on nuances in their favorite character. The show started out it's first season on uneven footing with the Captain and Lieutenant sometimes making a bit too much fun of Monk's idiosyncrasies, but once they all got to know each other, it became quite good. A lot of the humor is bases on the the good natured and accepting interplay between the cast, which is nice to see. Monk's first assistant, Sharona, was sometimes a bit rough around the edges, but, as I said, so was the show during the first two seasons. Natalee, used a much more softer and motherly approach that seems to work better with Monk. I was glad to see Stottlemeyer and Disher come around to working with Mr. Monk as well. The mystery part of the show is usually too easy to solve. I would put is somewhere above Matlock but far below Murder She Wrote on the difficulty to solve spectrum.

Once again Tom Paris tries a bit to hard to live out a fantasy world in the current Not-to-distant past. I wish they had the guts to try and guess what the not to distant future, but I assume with all the different Star Trek lore, they have to be very careful not to mess up any of the movies or other series. The story moves along well, and there are a few thrills, but for the most part, there is very little doubt about what's going on, who is really who, or how it's going to end.

This episode reminded me of "Turnabout Intruder" from the original Star Trek series and Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.

Leland Orser does a very good job as a sociopathic holograph. Unfortunately, his motivation seems to be more along the lines of a human form of Vger from past Star Trek series, but it still works quite well. Meanwhile, Ensign Kim is and Seven of Nine spend some quality time together, which leads to some good fun for all involved. Kim seems to be channeling Geordi Leforge, but manages to do a better job with the material. Both Seven and the doctor manage to get the best lines in the whole episode, and they deliver them with wonderful dry wit. Meanwhile Paris and B'ellana's relationship finally starts getting real.