I dreaded the musical episode and I was wrong, it was fantastic. I dreaded the Lower Decks crossover episode and I was wrong, it was fantastic. I dreaded this episode and unfortunately, this time it was even worse than I feared.

I’ll admit, it was well made, the technical and performance sides of the puppets were outstanding and I genuinely laughed out loud on several occasions, but holy hell was it cringe from start to finish. Is this what anyone wants from ST??

I was so relieved that

but ffs, did we really need to waste what precious time is left with this series on… this??

The biggest weakness of Kurtzman’s era was that he granted way too much freedom to people’s ideas. Exploration and growth are of course necessary if Star Trek is going to survive (Even the 90’s shows got flak: DS9 stayed in one place and didn’t explore like the Enterprise, Voyager was going the “wrong direction” by coming home instead of going outward), but any artist will tell you that self-imposed restraint is what makes any work really spark. Some ideas should be rejected because they just don’t fit somehow and I’m shocked that no one realized it enough to put their foot down in this instance.

I realize that this was this season’s obligatory hijinks episode (the previous entries of which I generally liked and in the case of Spock Amok loved), but for me this one didn’t just cross the line, it jumped the shark.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED talk. 😅

That was great! I thought I knew where it was going but it totally surprised both me and my wife and we were like, “Damn, that was pretty good!”

Very hyped for shore leave episode now, the crew has earned it!

I’m a simple man. I see Rama, I upvote.

She’s from the Rebuild films, which are abominations best left unwatched.

Ew, no.

Breakfast Club is the classic example. Word emo chick was so hot and awesome and then just becomes… blah.

I remember watching the movie and then immediately thinking, “Why the fuck did I just watch that? And why the fuck did anyone make it? This is not a story that needs to be given attention.”

Oh man, it started a little… extra shall we say, but that was really something special! I did not expect this series to be this good.

God I miss those! Strolling down the street, quickly stutter run up to that sweet ledge and bust a random 6 foot frontside, continue strolling down the street…

Whoa, don’t think I’ve ever seen the original image before.

I overall loved the choice to use it and orchestral arrangement especially, really got my attention after all the action and made me lean in to the moment and the show. What I didn’t love was Rufus Wainright’s overly syrup-y vocals. Really would have preferred the original remixed with the orchestral arrangement.

That said, I do wonder if over time this is going to grow on me and become another Faith of the Heart. 😁

Totally! I haven’t loved the post-Burn setting but the way this show is already contextualizing it, and the optimism it’s doing it with is already starting to change my mind.

And it’s even carrying over from the show into real life, which is one of the things I love most about Trek and its good to have this out there. There’s some nitpicks, as there always are, but so far I can deal with them, especially if it stays consistent. 🖖

all of the building blocks were created over a long time, and suddenly, their invention or discovery becomes inevitable.

The first season of Connections did an exceptional job of illustrating that idea. Highly recommended!

It’s common for terrible acts to go unpunished. There are lots of movies and shows where the bad guy wins. Many where you can’t even tell who the bad guy is. But they’re still good stories.

That’s kind of my point though, the show failed to make any statement about it, including this one. In fact, what you say here would have been an exceptional statement to make, especially considering the post-9/11 backdrop of this season’s arc. Instead they were just like, “ANYWAY, time for some timetravel shenanigans” or whatever the next season was doing, I don’t recall. That absence of comment is the failure the show makes is what I’m really saying.

I think the character decisions were motivated, intentionally difficult to wrestle with and especially relevant for the time it was made. I think what makes the show unforgivable for it however, is the complete lack of consequences for those transgressions.

And before someone brings up DS9 and In the Pale Moonlight, I would point out that that entire episode was doing the work of questioning and condemning decisions just like this. It’s what ENT was missing.

No no no. No one should ever watch the remakes. The OG show and End of Eva movie, while not perfect, are an extraordinary and focused (again, with a few exceptions and missteps along the way) artistic expression from a soul in pain trying to understand and work through their traumas, the kind of exercise that some of the best art comes from.

The remakes are nonsensical meta garbage about Anno (the artist in question) trying to leave behind this behemoth IP empire that accidentally created and desperately wants to be free of, to the point that he couldn’t even finish the damn things himself.

While I appreciate the sentiment, I truly regret the time I spent watching the remakes.

A Look Around You reference in the Wild? My day is made! ❤️

Awesome, cheers!

Which courses do you recommend?

How do you access this output?