Oh, my gosh. Weyoun is so beautiful! And you can make him smile! Now all we need is a Lakarian City playset... a pile of ash should do.
But what about Okana at the Starfleet Command Party representing our acceptance:
Or much less attractive PRO Okana, representing the season 3 theme change?
Just give us Prodigy S3. Granted, we'd have to see how they work it out, considering they've hit the Picard era.
Maybe we could just have a little "accident" where Admiral Janeway is visiting the Protostar when they all get whisked into the 2430s and can't return so they don't have to deal with Picard crap. It wouldn't be as radical of a future as Discovery - we'll just have a nice, peaceful era with only the occasional threat.
The Protostar has some new worlds to explore, while Janeway struggles to reintegrate into Starfleet and catches up with her still-surviving friends, probably including elderly Mr. Tysess, Tuvok (who, even with conservative estimates, probably still have 3 decades ahead of them) Chakotay (probably not in as good health as Tuvok or Tysess, but holding on), as well as the Doctor.
Besides potentially being able to do TNG monster of the week, you've got at least 1 free episode plot for checking in on Solum. Besides having some plot on thea now non-destroyed Solum, we could have Ilthuran's reaction to being reunited with Gwyn after decades as well as, at a minimum, a bit of comedy from a nice, non-fascist Ascencia (It would be even funnier if this Ascenscia at one point became a legit Starfleet officer).
Give us Prodigy S3, please.
Actually, that was Barenaked Ladies that did the Big Bang Theory theme. Totally different guys.
Yes I did, and now I’ve fixed it.
Ironically, the Cerritos is on 4 shifts, based one the existence of delta shift.
Note: In a few of these, I have multiple images of what I consider to be the main variants, which I would say are S1 E15 version, S1 E19 version, S2 E5/E9 version, and S2 E14 onward.
Some of the early episodes are important in my opinion but a little rough at times.
Once you hit season 2, there is rarely a bad episode - they're all at the very least funny, except for "A Mathematically Perfect Redemption", which is just the most brutal form of torture and an experiment in anti-storytelling. .
Not totally right. Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, and Prodigy are all decent as well. TOS is also worth a watch with an episode list, and TAS has a few good ones as well.
Discovery, in my opinion, isn't as bad some say either. It's hardly peak Star Trek, but I've found I enjoy it sometimes. I also have to throw in obligatory Orville suggestion.
As others have set, Lower Decks is not the first show you should watch though - it's more enjoyable after watching everything. Also, both Lower Decks and Prodigy, I'd recommend watching through the first 10 or so episodes before making a judgement - the first few episodes aren't their best. Lower Decks is often funny and at least once a season (from season 2) puts out a masterpiece that belong with the best of Trek. I'd say the top/my favorite LD episodes are (in no particular order):
Maybe they are, but those parts haven't developed yet - notice how their arms are bare. There might also be neurological differences in babies that prevent the full influence of the collective.
That scene where they pull away from the station feels like an invisible hand is pulling on my brain.
Also, sometimes I think, "What if this could all be as beautiful as the remasters in What We Left Behind?"
Finally, why does my mind read this in the voice of Vic Fontaine?
I’ve made a bizarre observation: commemorative plates tend to be associated more with Star Trek or Star Wars more than other franchise (Stargate seems to have some, too.), and I kind of wonder why.
Obviously, they’re not actually that popular anymore and have faded into kitsch, as the only plate that seems to have come out since DS9/VOY era is the Lower Decks Tom Paris plate - there are no DSC, PIC, Kelvin, or even ENT plates, while newer Star Wars plates don’t seem all that common as well unless you want paper plates.
I’m wondering if it has to do with 2 factors, still somewhat true today but especially in the 1990s:
These would have made the plates commercially viable, meaning to both inside and outside observers, plates became a stereotype of the fandoms.
Anyhow, what are your thoughts?
P.S. Wow, this is starting to feel like a meta version of Daystrom.
Let's say we have a certain Trill symbiont with a host. What would happen if the symbiont was duplicated under the condition that:
I imagine in all of them, the commission would at least let the duplicate live for the rest of the lifespan of the original host, much like the Federation at large treats transporter clones.
However, what happens when it comes time for the symbiont to be transferred? I can't imagine the commission's ideology would smile upon duplicate experiences under much of the same rationale against re-association: there would be a duplication of experiences rather than the acquiring of new ones.
I think in the first case at least, it is reasonable to assume that they'd begrudgingly transfer both symbionts, as both have the equally valid claim to being the original and randomly killing one is straight-up murder, which I imagine the rest of the Federation would dislike.
They might also do so in the second case, as at least our Larry boy has some different experiences even if some are duplicate with prime Dax.
The third one is where it gets very muddy. The nature of souls in general is a muddy subject - twofold when there are two beings involved. For the sake of argument, we'll say the Jadzia in Ezri's symbiont accessible by Zhian'tara is a "backup" of Jadzia up to her death and that a separate Jadzia Dax went to Sto'Vo'Kor^1^. What then?
1: I make this assumption because a) Ezri doesn't have Jadzia's memories of Sto'Vo'Kor and b) it was the combination of Dax and Jadzia that engaged in Klingon ritual and "just" Jadzia would not be the person that participated. Of course, this starts getting into the more mystical parts of the franchise, and it's probably good they keep it vague even through it makes canon discussion like this a nightmare... a FUN nightmare.
Okay, the title may be a bit of comedic overstatement. What I really mean is I love the Lower Decks soundtrack and think Westlake may have been meant for Star Trek. I don't know what it is, but it truly evokes TNG era background music but on steroids.
I can't wait for the second volume. RIP Lower Decks - may the next few years prove to be the "Search for Lower Decks" (minus the butchering of a good Vulcan character, the pointless death... okay, maybe that wasn't the most apt comparison).
I have an odd question that will probably never be answered now unless they decide to bring this species to other Trek shows: why are members of Merp’s species called “Big Merp”, “Sleepy Merp”, or just “Merp”?
Obviously out of universe, they’re likely just a parody of the Smurfs.
My personal favorite theory that would be that Merpkind (or whatever they are called) doesn’t actually have a native concept of individual names. However, they’ve got to put something on the Federation paperwork, so they typically just do whatever and stick with it.
Alternatively, fitting more with the Smurf thing, Merp communities identify each other via adjectives or roles much like the Smurfs.
What’s your ten cents?
EDIT: Thinking on it, it could be a combination. No one has a set name - some might call their spouse “Mate Merp”, while that spouse might be referred to by a boss as “Strong Employee Merp.” When doing Federation paperwork, Merps typically choose which descriptor they’re more fond of. For instance, Sleepy Merp may have been referred to as that by a parent.
What’s your eulogy for Lower Decks?
Here’s mine: I wasn’t sure about Lower Decks for a well - I’d never been into the adult animation genre, and when I first heard of it, I had initially seen it as the wrong direction for Star Trek.
Finally, in late 2023, I watched it for the first time and was surprised to enjoy it.
Then came the crazy month of March 2024. I got rejected from all my dream schools, putting me in a sullen mood. I returned to the show and suddenly started resonating with Boimler as someone who had ambitions - some naive, some not - that weren’t always fulfilled, while I found the Cerritos to be kind of an analogue to the state school I would end up at.
Then, at the end of that month, a close family member shared their advanced pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and they passed a month after. That was when my attachment to Lower Decks solidified - I turned to it as a comfort show and really started to appreciate it. I think I’ve rewatched it twice since then - one randomly in the summer, and one to refresh my memory for the final season that began while I was doing the (mediocre) paint job for a 3D-printed combadge for a costume:
Overall, it’s probably my second favorite show in the franchise at this point, only behind DS9. I’m sure I’ll rewatch it plenty times more, though maybe a bit more sparingly - just one more this year to cope with the emptiness of no more new episodes. 🤭
Lower Decks! Lower Decks!
I knew it was Data the moment I noticed the head looked nothing like Data
In all seriousness, though, I swear I'm going to break into Rick Berman's house and send him to Gre'thor for what he did to Jadzia (and honestly, most of the female cast members at he time).
I have a weird question. Some numbers of pips can have the black pip. However, the 4 captain pips have never been depicted with this.
In some ways, this makes sense; a "lower" captain wouldn't make sense, and we've seen that the highest first officers hold commander pips. It's most likely that have 4 pips with one black is totally invalid.
However, I wonder if there's ever a circumstance where the black pip would be there. For instance, let's say someone gets field promoted to acting captain, but Starfleet either takes their time making it official or it's going to take a while (a few weeks) for the ship to get back to starbase to pick up a new captain (meaning the acting captain will be a bit long-term)? Could it be used then?
I imagine most of this is speculation, but I'm wondering if there's any example in canon of a long-term acting captain that could disprove the use of this pip configuration.
Me, in Arizona:
Though honestly, my thought is if the rest of the country gets rid of DST, I feel like Pacific should go to PDT because it’s incredibly nice when that part of the country aligns with Arizona’s time. Granted, that might be weirder for the eastern Mountain time states.