ValueSubtracted

ValueSubtracted, 28 minutes ago

Okay, that was unexpectedly dark.

I was expecting the RTD silliness that I’m not too fond of, but I thought the actual episode walked the line very well - the cynical undercurrent goes a long way.

If it had just been a social media satire, I don’t think it would have worked, but the pivot into “these people are all naive assholes” was actually pretty successful. In that way, it reminded me of “Voyage of the Damned,” in which all the “good people” were killed off by the end.

ValueSubtracted, 6 hours ago

I’m the first person to defend Health Canada having standards for scientifically-validated treatment, but there is clearly work to be done in actually making sure the science happens - ideally, cases like this where the treatment is being recommended by licensed doctors should be considered opportunities for research, even if it is only a case study.

ValueSubtracted, 12 hours ago

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I didn’t realize there were conspiracy theories floating around about them being fired or some nonsense. I figured the actual reason was probably pretty benign.

ValueSubtracted, 22 hours ago

Nope - after they were cancelled, they were allowed to go back and film some additional scenes to add to the end of the finale to give it some closure.

ValueSubtracted, 13 hours ago

I wouldn’t say I found it distracting, if only because I knew it was coming, but I can definitely see the argument that it wasn’ t necessary.

ValueSubtracted, 1 day ago

I really like his answer to a question about Academy’s setting:

So you’re setting this —

In the “Discovery” era. There’s a specific reason for that. As the father of a 17-year-old boy, I see what my son is feeling as he looks at the world and to his future. I see the uncertainty; I see all the things we took for granted as given are not certainties for him. I see him recognizing he’s inheriting an enormous mess to clean up and it’s going to be on his generation to figure out how to do that, and that’s a lot to ask of a kid. My thinking was, if we set “Starfleet Academy” in the halcyon days of the Federation where everything was fine, it’s not going to speak to what kids are going through right now.

It’ll be a nice fantasy, but it’s not really going to be authentic. What’ll be authentic is to set it in the timeline where this is the first class back after over 100 years, and they are coming into a world that is only beginning to recover from a cataclysm — which was the Burn, as established on “Star Trek: Discovery,” where the Federation was greatly diminished. So they’re the first who’ll inherit, who’ll re-inherit, the task of exploration as a primary goal, because there just wasn’t room for that during the Burn — everybody was playing defense. It’s an incredibly optimistic show, an incredibly fun show; it’s a very funny show, and it’s a very emotional show. I think these kids, in different ways, are going to represent what a lot of kids are feeling now.

ValueSubtracted, 1 day ago

I think that’s a good thing - not just for the reasons Kurtzman highlighted, but because Starfleet being in a “rebuild” phase gives them a nice excuse to put cadets to work.

I also just enjoy the 32nd century setting, so I’m glad to stick with it a while longer.

ValueSubtracted, 1 day ago

But it took how many months of retooling to give us the last season?

Less than one, as far as I’m aware. They got permission to write and film an additional three days’ worth of footage, which became the epilogue to the episode. Everything else is exactly as they orginally shot it, from what they’ve said.

ValueSubtracted, 1 day ago

Oh wow, I’m glad you were able to attend - how was the crowd?

ValueSubtracted, 1 day ago

As far as season finales go, I think this was their best one to date. The action was split pretty nicely between the chaotic events on the bridge, Saru’s mission, and Burnham and Moll inside the portal. I thought the thoroughline of the clues left by the science team came together quite nicely, as well - there was a good amount of emphasis on how concerned the scientists had been about exactly who was going to find this thing. Burnham’s ultimate decision to chuck the whole thing into the black hole caught me by surprise, but seemed pretty well-reasoned.

As far as series finale’s go…I think they did pretty well with what they had. The several-decade time jump often works really well to cause some self-reflection, and it was nice to see an Admiral Burnham who was so settled down. And hey, we got our “Calypso” tie-in that managed to answer very few questions, but at least they closed that circle.

It really does feel like the end of an era. This show kickstarted the barrage of Trek we’ve (hopefully, mostly) enjoyed over these past few years. Of all the series that have followed it, Discovery has consistently been the one I’ve looked forward to watching the most, as it’s been the most willing to surprise and challenge me along the way. It’s been, as they say, a long road.

ValueSubtracted, 1 day ago

It would have been interesting to see Walking Dead L’ak, but it was also kind of nice to see Moll accept the situation and start to trust Burnham.

ValueSubtracted, 1 hour ago

It looks like they’re doing a better job of retaining props from shows once they’ve wrapped, so maybe there’s a chance they’ll put the sets in storage in case they decide to use them again - either in a movie (the rumour is/was that they want to do a streaming movie every two years), or for the occasional guest appearance on the Academy show.

But what was up with Detmer and Owo being side lined for the second half of the season.

Michelle Paradise said yesterday that both actors were unavailable during filming, having booked other projects.

ValueSubtracted, 1 day ago

Interesting - thanks, and done.

ValueSubtracted, 1 day ago

The Academy series remains on track to start filming this summer.