hallettj

@hallettj@leminal.space

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Producers Promise Season 4 Will Be Better⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  They set a high bar with the first two seasons.

  I felt like there were highlights in season 3. But it also felt uneven. The episodes I liked felt good, but not great. The first two seasons had great episodes.

  There was also a distinct lack of social commentary, which I feel is important in Star Trek. The best we got was Terrarium. Definitely a fun episode, but it’s core is a trope we’ve seen a number of times. What Is Starfleet looked like it was thinking about commenting on something, but frantically pulled the ripcord partway through, and went in a direction I wasn’t comfortable with. (Which is too bad because I thought the directing in that episode was very cool.) There’s nothing on the level of Ad Astra Per Aspera. Instead we got 5 episodes of mortal struggle vs unreasoning monsters.

  the list of unreasoning monsters

  Gorn, plant zombies, the “pure evil” on Vadia IX, the ship-eating ship

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x09 "Terrarium"⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Ortegas and the gorn playing board games was adorable!

  I liked this episode! There are some things that seem impossible, like the moon’s orbit and atmosphere - but that can be explained away by the Metrons. The vaccine thing, although on brand for Star Trek, I thought was silly and unnecessary. There are plenty of other sources of tension available.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x09 "Terrarium"⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I kinda appreciate how the Metrons orchestrating things can explain details that seem extremely contrived or impossible otherwise:

  • a human and a gorn being stuck in the same spot in the first place
  • a traversable wormhole that they didn’t detect, and that is unlike anything on record
  • a moon with an orbit that passes through a gas giant thermosphere, that somehow hasn’t had its orbit decay long ago, and that somehow retains a breathable atmosphere
  • Ortegas and the gorn surviving burning the atmosphere - you see a blue glow around them when that happens
• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x08 "Four-and-a-Half-Vulcans"⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  There was no restraint in this episode - I love it!

  When Doug showed up I realized it had gone off the rails. Then cetacean ops made me reassess what “off the rails” means. But I had to retract a head shake when I realized that was a sort of dream sequence. Laughed my ass off the whole time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x08 "Four-and-a-Half-Vulcans"⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Showing cetacean ops did seem like a lot. But OTOH, that scene isn’t actually on the Enterprise - it’s set inside La’An’s mind. So why not make it weird?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x08 "Four-and-a-Half-Vulcans"⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m too sleepy to stop this train of thought. Could Bashir have been augmented by an Illyrian doctor? Or a doctor whose work was informed by Illyrian methods?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x08 "Four-and-a-Half-Vulcans"⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  So La’An became Romulan; Spock said her case was different because of her augmented heritage. Does that imply that Romulans augmented themselves? And that’s what distinguishes them physiologically from Vulcans, and is what makes them kinda evil?

  I guess why wouldn’t Romulans augment themselves? And they got the bad Khan Singh kind of augmentation, instead of the good Illyrian kind.

  I love the swift eyebrow raises when La’An and Pike say the thing they cannot discuss together!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 3x08 "Four-and-a-Half-Vulcans"⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Perhaps an empanada?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨best episodes for people who've never seen star trek?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I happen to remember a similar conversation - I’ll link it for more ideas: lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/49435208

  I’m not casting any judgement for posting a similar question! Because a) how would you know about that other thread, and b) this is a topic people can, and will enjoy, discussing endlessly

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What to watch next after ST: Voyager?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Strange New Worlds is great! Since you’ve already seen DS9 and TNG that’d be my next pick for most enjoyment.

  Discovery and Lower Decks are good too! But Picard doesn’t get my recommendation.

  Watch order isn’t important. There’s a little crossover between Discovery and Strange New Worlds, but you there are only two details from Disco that carry into SNW, and those are recapped thoroughly in SNW.

  There is a little interaction between SNW and Lower Decks

  SNW / Lower Decks

  There’s a great crossover episode in SNW season 2. It’s worth getting to know the Lower Decks characters first to get the most out of that episode.

  There are three TOS episodes that are especially relevant to SNW from what I recall. The one I recommend watching is Balance of Terror.

  SNW / TOS

  SNW has lots of references to Pike’s “fate”, which you see in the TOS episode Glass Menagerie. It’s optional IMO. Btw Glass Menagerie includes a recut / retelling of the unaired pilot, which is my favorite episode of TOS. But the pilot doesn’t have the beep chair. Season 1 has an homage to the TOS episode Balance of Terror. It will make more sense if you’ve seen that episode. And it’s one of the best TOS episodes. Season 3 has an appearance from a character who first appeared in the TOS episode The Squire of Gothos. It might add some context. Also optional IMO.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are the best single episodes to show people new to Trek?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I agree that The Visitor is a great choice! Although depending on OP’s goal I’d argue for Duet because,

  • It’s another excellent, self-contained story
  • It keeps the story in the usual space station setting
  • You get more time with the regular cast (IIRC)
  • There is less hand-wavy scifi stuff going on

  So it might be a simpler introduction to the rest of the show.

  Those factors aside, yeah The Visitor is probably the more compelling story.

  Either way, DS9 has the best character writing, and is therefore the way to go!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨The beginning of my Pinguicula on mosses project⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  May I ask what brand of LECA you use? I’ve read contradictory things about pH of LECA being basic. I got a bag of Growit, and tested it with tap water - the water is indeed very basic compared to my control even after lots of rinsing and repeated soakings. I’m wondering if some brands are better at living up to claims of being pH neutral than others.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Tawny Newsome, Eugene Cordero and Jerry O'Connell were contestants on After Midnight (+ cameo by Rebecca Romijn)⁩ ⁨⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It looks like there is a playlist here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-cwa6ZvflaDvviwm8JqO6…