The following analysis has spoilers (and potential spoilers) for Discovery season three.
The third season of Star Trek: Discovery features new characters, some of whom were introduced in the premiere just a few days ago. The biggest new addition is David Ajala, as Cleveland “Book” Booker, who will be a sort of guide for the crew in the 32nd century.
Book is a courier who has teamed up with Michael Burnham to assist her as she seeks to find the USS Discovery. Book has his own ship, which will play a part in season three, and he has already shown himself to be a bit mysterious. One of Book’s peculiarities is his companion, a large Maine Coon cat, named Grudge, who we also met in the season premiere.
David Ajala as Book, with Grudge
There is nothing new about pets in Star Trek: Spock had I’Chaya the sehlat, Picard had Livingston the fish, Archer had Porthos the dog, and of course, Data had a pet cat named Spot. But we think there is something extra special about Grudge…
CBS is making a big deal about Grudge
We first took note of Grudge on Star Trek Day in early September. CBS went out of their way to highlight this new and furry member of the cast with a special behind-the-scenes video about Grudge as part of the Discovery panel. They also launched social media accounts for the cat on Instagram (@grudgecat) and Twitter (@Grudge_Cat).
I am Grudge. I am a SPACECAT. SPACE CATTE.
— Grudge (@Grudge_Cat) October 16, 2020
Working with Grudge (actually the two cats that play Grudge) was a topic of David Ajala’s interview this week on The Ready Room, the official Star Trek aftershow hosted by Wil Wheaton. Initially CBS released 10 character images for Discovery season three, then they sent out four more just for Grudge. Earlier in the week during the invite-only virtual premiere, Grudge was one of the members of the cast interviewed at the virtual after party.
Grudge interviewed by Bobak Ferdowsi during CBS’s Discovery virtual premiere
Certainly, CBS wants to promote the show and they may dream that Grudge could become as meme-worthy as Baby Yoda, but could it be they also want us to pay more attention to this cat?
Special cat precedent
Domesticated cats have always been mysterious, going back to early history in many cultures around the world. Cats were especially revered by the ancient Egyptians who made it a capital crime to kill one, and some Egyptian gods were depicted as cats. The ancient Egyptians saw cats as protectors, and some nobles were entombed with mummified cats.
We have also seen many examples of special cats in more modern popular fiction. In the film Men in Black, Orion the cat was revealed to be the protector of an entire galaxy, which was the main focus of the film. Over in the MCU, Goose the cat from Captain Marvel turned out to be a very powerful alien, responsible for Nick Fury’s famous eyepatch.
And we have seen something like this before on Star Trek. In the TOS episode “Assignment Earth,” Gary Seven’s companion Isis appeared to be a regular black cat, but could actually communicate with him telepathically and was able to transform into a human woman.
Isis in cat and human form in TOS “Assignment Earth”
Theory: Grudge is a queen… for real
We believe that all this attention on Grudge is another example of a cat that is more than just a cat.
One thing for sure, Grudge is big for a cat. When we first meet Grudge on Book’s ship, Michael notes the cat’s size, and Book explains this away by saying the cat has a thyroid condition. Things may be bad in the 32nd century after The Burn, but are thyroid conditions still a problem for a guy with a spaceship that uses controls based on programmable matter? When asked why the name Grudge, Book says, “She’s heavy and all mine.”
But maybe Grudge is even bigger than we realize? Later, Book’s rival courier Cosmo confronts him at gunpoint and threatens to “roast” Grudge to “feed her to the starving.” Cosmo add, “She’ll feed a whole planet.” Maybe this was just an insult about the cat’s size, or maybe he really meant it: Book’s first response to this taunt was “Keep her name out of your mouth,” indicating he has a very personal bond with Grudge.
Cosmo threatens Grudge
Book then declares, “She is a queen!” Sure, that could be affectionate rhetoric, but it seems possible that Book is quite serious and Grudge is literally a queen, a higher-level life form, and a leader of others for real.
I’m just a cat… or am I?
There’s something more to Grudge
Taking this further, it’s possible that the cat we see is only one manifestation of Grudge. The simplest Star Trek possibility would be that Grudge is some kind of shapeshifter. In addition to Isis, we have seen many different kinds of shapeshifters, most prominently Odo and The Founders from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, although they needed to return to a liquid state regularly, or at least they did back in the 24th century. But there are many others including Chameloids (like Martia from Star Trek VI) and Vendorians (from Star Trek: The Animated Series and Lower Decks). And there could be many more kinds of shapeshifters we just haven’t seen yet on Star Trek.
TrekMovie first talked about this shapeshifter possibility for Grudge on our All Access Star Trek podcast. But the day after that podcast episode went out, Grudge (who follows TrekMovie on Twitter) seemed to pour cold milk on the idea, proclaiming she was no shapeshifter.
Today in things I decided:
To shape shift into Dame Maggie Smith.
You may think I'm a shape shifter.
I'm not. I'm an Aquarius.
But if I was a shape shifter I would be Dame Maggie Smith.— Grudge (@Grudge_Cat) October 18, 2020
Of course, this could be misdirection as fans start speculating on the shapeshifter theory weeks ahead of a big reveal. Remember in season one the people behind Discovery invented a fake actor in order to keep the Voq=Tyler secret. (BTW, TrekMovie called that theory exactly three years ago today.)
But even if Grudge isn’t a typical shapeshifter, there could still be something more going on. Grudge could simply be a being that looks like a cat, but has greater intelligence and abilities. In episode one, we saw that Book had a special connection with other forms of life, including both plants and animals. He was able to communicate with the trance worm as well as summon a healing plant for Michael after she’d been shot.
Book bonds with trance worm
On Book’s ship, Michael talks to Book about his connection to various forms of life and his personal mission. She notes after the Federation fell there is “no one to enforce the Endangered Species Act, except you.” Immediately after that, the camera cuts to Book who then glances over to Grudge, then cuts to Grudge, who’s paying attention to the conversation. This could be telling. Book may be protecting Grudge from his family, who he describes as killers and poachers. Perhaps Grudge is the last (or one of the last) of her kind. We have seen this before in the first Star Trek episode to air (“The Man Trap”), when Robert Crater protected the shapeshifting M-113 creature, said to be the last of her kind.
Grudge watches as Michael and Book talk about his mission to protect life
It’s also possible that Grudge could be a type of technological lifeform. Star Trek: Picard has explored the advancements in sentient AI. Who is to say how advanced they could be eight centuries later? Imagine what is possible by combining extremely advanced AI with programmable matter.
Michael checks out the programmable matter controls on Book’s ship
With just one episode, we don’t have enough evidence to come to a final conclusion, but we do believe there is something special about Grudge. She is more than just a cat. And we believe Book when he says she is a queen.
Grudge on her throne
New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery premiere on Thursdays on CBS All Access in the U.S. and on CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada, where it’s also available to stream on Crave. Episodes will be available on Fridays internationally on Netflix.
Keep up with all the news and reviews from the new Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com.
I’m very much a DOG person, so I’m not really on board with all the cat hype. If only I liked Archer better… :-)
Me too. Love dogs. But I have a feeling some of the showrunners and writers have cats and this is why we have Grudge the Queen. =)
Or Maybe its because dogs tend to crap and pee more??
Maybe they learned their lesson from Number One. I got the impression the director(s) were not much a fan of that pooch. Cats are much more … predictable. I love both cats and dogs though.
I’m not into pets but cats are cool. Dogs will be dogs… as usual. I’m a cat person but I love DOGS too.
Cat person here.
It’s definitely got the attention of our household. We definitely appreciate that cats have attitude and wouldn’t have it any other way.
I was concerned that Grudge would only show up for an episode or two the way “Number One” did in Picard.
But the commitment to keep her Twitter account lively, suggests she’ll be around for much of the season (not to mention some of the grumbling by Frakes about working with the cat).
I hope you are right, bc I remember all the hype around Number One as well, and he was onscreen for a total of maybe 3 minutes ….
Maybe the dog playing Number One wasn’t great at taking directions on set. Pit Bulls are cute dogs but maybe they’re not as easy to train as some other breeds. Hopefully they can find a way to make him more prominent in Picard season 2
I believe that was exactly the reason. He was supposed to be in at least one more episode but was just too difficult to work with.
Unaltered dogs are pretty tough to train.
The makers of Picard have confirmed that the dog just wasn’t a good actor and that’s why we never saw it beyond the very beginning. Not sure we’ll ever see the dog again.
Cats are alien. They got more going on upstairs. Dogs, you love them, but they’re fairly transparent by comparison.
A thought I have often had …. =^..^=
+1. Now we know why Picard > Disco.
You can’t be serious Temarc (says a cat person).
It’s been a long time since cats have been given their due in Trek (a brief appearance by a synth Spot II aside).
I take the presence of Grudge as a positive sign that Discovery has excelled with season 3.
Hee!
Well, to each their own, of course, but I think Picard is the second-worst Trek show to date, better only than Voyager.
Rios, find some 10-12 year olds to watch Voyager with.
It may change your mind about where the show places in the hierarchy. Watching it with our kids definitely changed mine.
Voyager may have been drilling our nerves at times, but at least not any eyeballs :P
Speaking of Books connection to animals, he may be genetically enhanced (I doubt it’s a cybernetic enhancement since he talked about genes specifically). Maybe – shocker! – all humans are!
And I would welcome this as a prime way to set apart the 32nd century both from other Trek and our time, to denote nearly a millennium of seemingly uninterrupted technological and scientific development.
It seems unlikely Earth would keep up the Eugenics ban after the Fall of the Federation, and it’s the one thing Trek has hamstrung itself with that it can’t explore beyond the odd violation or alien episode (its been a long time) compared to other scifi universes.
The authors already cleverly discovered programmable matter for this purpose (set the show apart from previous Trek), so why not? I’m usually not a fan of “all is not what it seems” mystery boxes, but here it would be fitting, stripping off this initial veneer of familiarity as a fata morgana.
And yes, the cat not being a cat would just be the icing on that cake!
We discussed the possibility that everyone has some kind of embedded tech in the 32nd in the latest All Access Star Trek podcast. You should check it out!
He might have an implant.
I wondered if that was why Book’s forehead “lit up” as he was “praying” to bring forth the plant with healing powers.
It could also be that by the 32nd century most humans aren’t ‘pure’ human anymore. There are probably a lot more who have at least some alien ancestry given advances in medical technology making it easier
Maybe Book has an implant that allows him to talk to animals. Or genetically engineered like you said. The programmable matter is brilliant. That doesn’t exist yet in the real world.
Faze, check out Claytronics on Wikipedia. It’s actually something that is being worked at, and ironically (because Trek discovers it so much later), there’s really no theoretical roadblocks to make this happen, unlike warp drive and transporters.
From a real world perspective the technological timeline of Trek does not make much sense, discovering warp drive just a few decades later, after a devastating world war, but programmable matter only 1000 years later (maybe Discovery’s version is significantly more complex, such as actually transmutating elements in realtime).
But for me that’s okay, as long as they keep the tech self-consistent across the series and timelines (say, no replicators and holodecks before TNG, no programmable matter until long after TNG). That’s what good scifi should do.
Actually, we may not have any roadblocks regarding transporters anymore. Should only be a matter of time before we have the technological capability, at least from my understanding.
If you refer to quantum teleportation, that really has nothing to do whatsoever with Trek transporters. It’s just the media like to use a popular hook to sell their stories (vulgo: clickbait) ;)
No, but you’re right. I’m not talking about matter-to-energy conversion, so it wouldn’t have anything to do with Trek transporters. But I am speaking of theoretical quantum physics and dealing with overcoming the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, and the ability to measure particle spin without disentanglement. I’m not going to pretend to know everything about quantum physics, but from what I understand it seems like there have been some recent breakthroughs and theories regarding these issues. I’m quite optimistic that we’ll have even more breakthroughs in the near future, but I doubt we’ll see actual teleportation in our lifetime. Quantum communication on the other hand could be something feasible in the near future.
Absolutely, quantum communications looks much more likely, and beyond that, quantum computers are being worked at and could be game changers for achieving general AI.
But beyond that, transporters face a whole host of bigger problems. For one, the issue of what constitutes consciousness and how does it manifest itself on a “hardware level” needs to be solved before. Even if we reject mind-body duality, which resolution on a subatomic level is going to be sufficient to make sure the person does not reassemble as a philosophical zombie? And who is going to volunteer for that?
In light of these difficulties, programmable matter really looks like child’s play in comparison.
I don’t believe that quantum computing is necessary for AGI. I see it as an issue of software architecture not hardware, though quantum computing could certainly help with maximizing it’s potential.
I also don’t believe that consciousness would be an issue for transportation/teleportation. I understand the whole philosophical zombie concept, but I see consciousness as being a set of functions of the brain and not anything that is channeled, or otherwise generated as some people believe, and is therefore subject to the same laws of physics as the rest of the brain. So should we figure out how to teleport a brain (presumably along with the rest of the body), consciousness should be unaffected. But that’s just my opinion.
Scientifically speaking it would be amazing if the spiritual center is discovered to be of biological origin. It would certainly shake up a lot of our present philosophy / religious beliefs.
But [and I’m talking spiritually / woo-woo here] what if the “god-center” of the brain is found to be “connected” with all other minds? Is the deep sense of connection with all life that people experience on psyllocybin or LSD connected with this somehow?
Well, for my work and research, I take a ‘bottom-up’ approach and go on the assumption that everything about the human brain has evolved to meet specific needs. So when I think of things like spirituality, I see it as at least four things working together: a function or group of functions which go into problem solving and finding a root cause for things, functions of the ego which protect us from accepting a more mundane solution even to the point of cognitive dissonance, reactions to misunderstood/not yet understood scientific phenomena, and effects of social interactions (mostly as a reinforcer of behavior, along with our own emotions). So to put it simply, I think that it may come down to just biological imperetives and an assumption that some of the things we feel and experience come from outside of us and beyond our understanding. Now, as an agnostic, I don’t personally believe this, but I accept the possibility and remain open-minded.
Ashley, it may not be necessary but it may be the accelerator needed right now as it is not obvious how we would get from the current myriad of specialized AIs to a general one (the sum got to be more than its parts). Even if consciousness is just a set of functions, we need to be able to quantify those to know which granularity is needed to disassemble and reassemble a person without “losing anything”. This is super difficult because only that person could know if the experience of being is the same, and even if it’s not there would probably no way to realize the “rupture”. Unless we can perfectly measure consciousness from outside. And I don’t see that happening any time soon.
I don’t believe that narrow AI is going to evolve into general AI any more than lightning is going to strike Google’s servers and turn it into Skynet. It’s a stepping-stone at best, but I think a complex and intentionally designed software architecture is what’s going to do it. Machine learning as a concept will be a part of it, maybe even as specific components, but will only make up a small part. In my opinion of course..
As for the resolution needed for complete teleportation without leaving anything behind, I think the ‘quantum level’ will be sufficient. I’m sure it’ll follow the same progression as you’d expect, going from atoms and particulate matter to inanimate objects to biological material before we try living creatures. We may never know if it’ll be enough even if it seems like it is, but that never stopped progress in Star Trek. I doubt it will in the real world. We usually don’t master concepts before testing them anyway. And you know somebody is going to volunteer, no matter how dangerous or creepy-weird, if only to be the first.
The Holodeck made its first appearance in TAS as the “Rec Room.”
Naturally, it was a holodeck disaster episode.
So, it’s simply not canon to say no holodecks before TNG.
VS if you haven’t watched TAS, you should. DC Fontana was the supervising producer and many of the scripts were originally written by TOS writers. Tiger2 knows I can be relentless in my determination to convince TOS fans to watch TAS, horrid 70s animation notwithstanding.
(Tiger2, I’m still waiting for your reaction to TAS….)
TG47, there was no slight against TAS in there. It was made very clear in Encounter at Farpoint that the Holodeck as an integrated, “infinite” experience was something very new; that does not negate earlier, more primitive precursors same as reading stones before glasses, steam-powered engines before electric ones and food synthesizers before replicators (I suspect the key innovations of the TNG holodeck are the use of replicators beyond visual holographic projections, and the use of force fields to expand the size of the simulation well beyond the room; innovations that were not available at TAS/TOS time). At the same time, even when accepting TAS as canon sometimes we must put aside some parts as apocryphal if they clash with all other series, such as the Bonaventure. Either way, the Rec Room is not a big problem to maintain consistency for the timeline of treknology.
Speaking of holodecks, there’s a new interview on Indiewire that mentions future seasons of Trek may utilize an “AR Wall” to do location shooting in-studio (very timely, now that travelling abroad is out!) I assume this is some sort of evolution of green screen, just with immediate feedback and full immersion. Fascinating!
You should check out how the first season (and I assume subsequent seasons) of The Mandalorian was filmed, essentially used the AR wall (or really an AR room) concept.
https://www.starwars.com/news/the-mandalorian-stagecraft-feature
Thanks, it’s a fascinating article!
It might be what The Mandalorian is doing. Instead of shooting in front of a green screen and putting in the background in post production they project the environment onto a large screen surrounding the stage while shooting.
It’s really too bad TAS wasn’t better animated and the music wasn’t more varied. It’s a little hard to watch. And they had to rush through the plots with not much attention to character. I think that’s why “Yesteryear” stands out, because it’s a deep look into Spock’s character as a boy and how it formed Spock the man.
I think it’d be fantastic if the Trek producers thought about expanding those plots to 42 – 45 minutes and doing new and better animation and music, perhaps casting the Kelvin cast as the character voices. This way they could do more than have characters moving quickly through the most basic plots which covered the basics of [sometimes fairly sophisticated] stories created by SF writers.
And new stories which involved fantastical-appearing aliens could be scripted and drawn … aliens could be more than bipedal head-and-hands-of-the-week characters.
I’ve just received the DVD box set of TAS that I ordered a few days ago; I remember being a kid and watching it on BBC2 every Tuesday evening. Watching it now, and surprised how good the stories and voice acting were. Apparently the reason that so many of the costumes and sets are coloured Pink is that one of the producers was colour-blind, and saw Pink as Grey!
As to wether TAS is canon, Roddenberry put his name on it and took the pay cheque for it, so as far as I’m concerned it’s part of canon
I’m with you Ursula. (But I stan TAS here as I also loved it as a child, and used the DVD set to introduce it to our kids.)
I have a recollection that the pink story is apocryphal. A lot of off-beat colour palettes were being used in children’s animation and daytime television. By the 70s, the primary colours of the early 60s introduction of television were already looking dated.
On canon, it’s important to recognize that Roddenberry’s position on this went back and forth.
TAS was canon when it was made, broadcast and got a series Emmy award. However, when Roddenberry was trying to get Phase 2 going and TMP made, there were IP inconveniences and he suddenly said it wasn’t canon. By the time TNG was broadcast he was suggesting it was canon again.
The position of CBS and now ViacomCBS, who hold the rights, is that it is canon, and LDs is leaning into that heavily with callbacks.
It’s always been part of the franchise, despite Richard Arnold’s pointless attempts to dismiss it before Paramount fired him, and despite his attempts to claim that Roddenberry had issued the decree, which wasn’t really the case. After his firing, everyone ignored his rule and went right on back to referencing TAS, including the writers of Enterprise, the 2009 film, the comics, the novels, and now ST: Picard.
Thanks Rios.
I knew that Richard Arnold tried to be an enforcer on that and other minutiae that were his own pet peeves, but I’d heard that on the subject of TAS that he was able to appeal to some position Roddenberry had taken along the way in some negotiations. Hardly a decree though.
However that is regarding TAS, it seems that the relationship between the Secret Hideout and Rod Roddenberry & Trevor Roth for the Roddenberry estate seems much more constructive even if fans grumble about the number of EPs.
FTIW I have no beef with TAS and I will check it out some day! I’m basically watching nothing right now beyond the current Trek shows and the very odd movie in cinema, and I suppose catching up with LDS is higher up on the bucket list ;)
It’s actually on Blu Ray now as well, but I cant say I can see a difference
The animated series had holodecks
Baby Yoda has some meme worthy competition. Grudge is my queen! Cats rule the galaxy.
By the way on the Captain Marvel reference… Captain Marvel is a descent MCU movie.
It’s not my favorite but it was a nice leadup to Avengers Endgame. Nick Fury and his famous eyepatch.
Loved the background on Fury’s eyepatch, LOL.
Book is Han Solo and Grudge is Chewbacca.
That would be hilarious, if Grudge morphed into a creature as huge as Chewbacca at some point.
She’s heavy, indeed! :D
The Cat From Outer Space…
I’m really surprised you’re the first one to mention that movie!
I keep thinking of the Dutch children’s classic novel and movie “The Cat that Came in from the Roof.”
Somehow our kids came across it at the library, and it was such a favourite that we ended up with our own copies of both th book and DVD.
Interesting speculations. Maybe Grudge is the manifestation of transdimensional and hyper intelligent beings. Oh wait. Then she would be a mouse.
Yes, and she would be the designer of Norway…
Or Freya
There has to be more to her. Otherwise, why torture the production team with having to wrangle a cat of all animals?
Because someone(s) who are high up are cat people?
Maine Coons are particularly easy to wrangle. The selection of breed was probably not a coincidence.
Might Book be a member of the Aegis from “Assignment Earth”?
There were no “Aegis” mentioned in Assignment: Earth. That’s a name from the books and comics, and thus is something the TV writers are free to ignore.
There ware also free to ignore pun names for Number One, but failed to.
I thought the reference to “feeding a whole planet” was to the trance worm. (Of course, when he said it- before we saw the trance worm- I thought he meant the cat.)
Just to be clear, Orion seems to have been an ordinary Earth cat, although he does seem to sense the presence of aliens.
You didn’t mention Gary Seven’s cat. Something going on there…
Interesting fact: The Bible never mentions cats once. We know they *had* cats, but for some reason they’re never mentioned.
You mean domesticated cats? Because for sure lions are mentioned a lot.
Right, not big cats. Different words in Hebrew, of course. Who knows if they even thought of lions and cats as being related
Cats are imposters.
this makes book Discovery’s Neelix.
No-no-no-no-no!
No. Grudge is Neelix. Remember? Neelix purrs.
My first thought when Book said, “She’s a queen” was Isis, the cat/person who associated with Gary Seven.
Maine-Coon cats are very bold cats, always open for excitement and adventure.
I think the twist is gonna be that it will just be an ordinary cat, nothing more, nothing less.
Cat is a cat is a cat is a cat
– Gertrude Steinkatze –
hey, you’ve all seen what cats can really do in captain marvel.
So, .. Lets all stand together and pay respects to the death of Fury’s eye.. F in the chats boys .. and girls… and — nah fuck it not enough space for all that pronoun nonsense
Ive always said Cats were evil incarnate, re-watch the series again, from start to finish and you will see that Spot ruled all, They think him a pet? no way, data is HIS pet. Also there is this deleted scene from the episode traveller.. where lil wes crusher holds hands with this alien while they manage to get the enterprise D back to Fed space, but what you miss out on by that deleted scene is the fact, spot had taken a dump in the deuterium tanks and pissed on the main plasma converter to the starboard warp engine when he was “exploring” the ships access Jeffries tubes.. then he laughed about it and sent Lore some NuDEz and behind the scene hilarity as the ship blew up all while he was safe aboard the newly christened runabout – THE 420 CATNIP BONG PARTY BUS.
Sorry.. I am bored and I’m fed up of taking sci fi so seriously… let me laugh at Dr.Who without getting bogged down by the restrictive cannon leading to “Fans” creating a shit storm, or MCU starting to over saturate the market and actually put off die hard fans… I’m not a die hard fan but i grew up with these stories and I loved and still love the movies, but….every franchise has its day and i dont want to see the MCU get destroyed the way other sci fi franchies were, SUCH AS STARGATE….
I wont start that rant for now, otherwise im getting banned for writing an essay for a post… fuck.. too late
P.S I may or may not have embellished the truth about deleted scenes of spot causing a warp core malfunction
The background of the headline image looks like a pizza lol.
Honestly, I thought the “She could feed a whole planet” line was just that Cosmo guy fat-shaming the cat.
Cosmo was a space-jerk.
LOL
“Cosmo was a space-jerk.”
Oh, THAT’s why he had to die in such a gruesome way – TOXIC COSMO! :D
It’s Maine Coon, like the state, and she is actually a mid-sized one. There are significantly larger Maine Coons weighing up to 35 lbs. Meow.
I’m surprised they haven’t renamed the cat species yet given that anything and everything is an offense these days ;)
Yes, I know how American Southerners have a problem with The Pine Tree State… ;)
Grudge is played a male Maine Coon.
Yet another astronaut produced by Maine.
Sometimes a cat is simply a cat. ( A good cat. A pretty cat- but just a cat nonetheless)
I think the producers are eager to get in on that big cat owners demographic- or give baby Yoda some competition. Unless you know something we don’t.
“Unless you know something we don’t.”
The cat will get her own theatrical production even! The movie will be called (aptly) “The Grudge” ;)
Grudge is like Isis and has a human form, but played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
“played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.”
As “The Grudge” is a well-known horror film series, this…. is an apt choice :D
Book is klingon. Calling it now.
Yeah, they’re gonna role out some Grudge plot twist. I hadn’t thought of it but now that you mention it, yeah. I just hope it’s not toooo stupid. It can be a little stupid ;-)
After watching the cat interacting with Tilly and hearing Jenny Lumet say that Grudge, a character she created, is still really angry about something and has a “best friend” , I’m calling it now.
Grudge is Queen Po.
A very ticked off Queen Po, whose planet was made largely of dilithium and cataclysmically damaged by The Burn.
The cat is Q
I am already a big Grudge fan, it was instant love for me. I am thinking of starting a Grudge Fan Club.
As a veterinarian, I find that I must comment on the inaccuracy of referring to a large or heavy cat as having a ‘thyroid’ condition. Dogs and humans are prone to HYPO- thyroid conditions, where the thyroid hormone level is TOO LOW, so they gain weight and become overly large. Cats are prone to HYPER thyroid conditions, developing a tumor on the thyroid gland that produces TOO much thyroid hormone. As a result, a cat with a thyroid condition becomes TOO thin and emaciated!
If Alex Kurtzman needs a veterinary consultant, let him know I am available! I have been a veterinarian for 40 years, and a Star Trek fan for 54 years. I think they need to make sure their veterinary medical references are accurate!!
According to EP Jenny Lumet, the plan was to have a large “caloricly challenged” cat.
Instead, they cast a pair of fairly svelte youngish male siblings for a female role. However it sounds as though they got the behaviour they were looking for. The cat(s) dislike Sonequa according to Lumet.
Wait… so the going theory is that Grudge Cat is Star Trek’s version of Luna from Sailor Moon (in the original Sailor Moon manga the guide cats Luna and Artemis were actually aliens that had the form of cats, and in a Sailor Moon film, Luna got transformed into the Japanese mythical Princess Kaguya)? As bizarre an idea as this is, I am intrigued by it and in how Star Trek would interpret such an idea
I know this is cheesy as hell, but my elderly cat was diagnosed a couple months ago with kidney failure. Grudge looks exactly like my best friend. I kind of feel like the universe threw me a liiiiittle bit of a bone and put my cat in Star Trek so that I can see her go on adventures as she passes in reality.
Could she be the Queen of Xahea? We don’t know that Xaheans aren’t spectacularly long-lived and can’t shapeshift.