[Episode review starts at 13:15]
Tony and Laurie talk about how COVID is impacting production on Star Trek Picard and Star Trek: Discovery, including the news that Tig Notaro is limiting her time as Jett Reno. They also talk about Michael Chabon’s newly revealed backstory for Riker and Troi and their son’s middle name: Worf. The podcasters then crawl through the Jeffries Tubes to review Star Trek’s latest homage to Die Hard, Discovery‘s “There Is A Tide…” featuring the return of Ken Mitchell.
Links to topics discussed in the pod
Jeri Ryan Confirms New ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2 Production Start Date
Other mentions:
Tom Cruise yells at M:I 7 crew for not following COVID protocols
Die Hard (and yes, it is a Christmas movie)
Transparent displays is a dumb sci-fi trope
Ken Mitchell’s various Star Trek roles
Trekbits:
Tony: THR: How James Bond Inspired This Underrated ‘Star Trek’ Episode
Laurie: Picture Book: Fascinating: The Life of Leonard Nimoy
Let us know what you think of the episode in the comments, and post your suggestions for topics we should cover when Discovery‘s third season ends. (We particularly appreciated last week’s discussions!)
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Happy New Year Everyone! Must be so awkward for Riker, to name his child with the same name of his frenemy. That is a tough one! :P
Happy new year Jay. You and your family stay safe!
I just finished watching the Disco episode and it was pretty good. I love seeing the podcast drop so soon after the episode goes live on All Access.
It’s like a Pavlovian response, at this point I don’t know what I’d do with myself after watching a Trek episode if not listen to a TrekMovie podcast.
Disco did a lot of things very well this week but some things made me roll my eyes. Part of what makes the podcast so much fun is to compare my opinions to Laurie and Anthony’s opinions. I am really looking forward to listening!
My Pavlovian response is now to come see what you say about the podcast each week. (Am I a little needy? Sure.) Glad you’re enjoying the podcast so much, it means a lot! And I agree with your summary of Discovery: Sometimes I’m rolling my eyes, sometimes I’m just sitting back and loving it. And it’s a lot of fun to talk about no matter what side of that fence it’s on.
Die Hard is technically not a Christmas movie.
I feel salty about it and don’t know why!
It’s a movie about a husband and wife reuniting at Christmas, which could be the plot of many a seasonal movie on the Hallmark Channel. So yes, it’s a Christmas movie — but with the added bonus of machine guns! Ho-Ho-Ho.
Its a movie set on Christmas. That doesn’t make it a Christmas movie. Nobody learns the true meaning of Christmas, nobody saves Christmas, nobody meets Santa Claus, etc. The movie could have been set on any day of the year, and it would have been almost exactly the same.
John plays the part of Santa. He gives bullets to those who are naughty.
John McClane gives of himself till it hurts, and then some. If that ain’t in the best tradition of sacrificing in the season of giving, what in the yippee-ki-yah is?
It’s a seasonal movie, so it’s a Christmas movie. It’s not a Biblical movie but it’s set around that day, so it’s a Christmas movie! Not even the director himself can tell me otherwise…
And it counts that a LOT of people watch it once a year at Christmastime. The debate rages on, but it takes place at Christmas and gets watched at Christmas.
It’s a Christmas movie all the way. In my top 3 favs.
Thanks for the conversation, Laurie and Tony. As I mentioned in a post on another thread, it is hard to assess a single piece of a highly serialized show with a season-long arc. Where, for instance, could the writers have given more background about Osyraa in a previous installment without losing some other element of a vital thread? Beats me. And this general issue seems intensified with a kind of trilogy as the season finale. I think it’s probably just as well that we didn’t have any scenes from the dilithium planet this go round. There’s only so many threads that can be handled without total confusion.
Anyway, I have a different read on the Burnham – Stamets interaction that comes from comparing Michael with Saru. I wonder where each now stand with regard to the Federation/Starfleet. Whereas earlier in the season Michael would run off on her own quest for the origins of The Burn without thinking much of the consequences for the Federation (about which she knew next to nothing), she now is determined to defend the Federation by getting Stamets off Discovery. Like the three-dimensional chess player she is, she perceives that he is at present the key to determining whether the Chain or the Federation prevail. He must be defended at all costs regardless of his or her own feelings. She doesn’t need to know what’s happening between Vance and Osyraa — her year as a courier has informed her of Osyraa’s true, untrustworthy character. She correctly (it would seem) realizes that if Osyraa controlled the spore drive then everything would continue in chaos for the foreseeable future.
Saru has had a sort of reverse development. His otherwise praiseworthy concern to rescue a life sign from a Kelpian ship caused him (like an earlier Michael) to rush in without proper preparations in what was clearly a dangerous radiation-laden nebula. He thereby put Discovery and with it the Federation in grave peril. He knew that the individual had been stranded for 100 years yet couldn’t take some time to defend against the possibility of Osyraa going after the crucial spore drive. We’ll have to see how this all turns out in terms of the captaincy.
Thanks, again!
Good insights.
Happy New Year! I’m finding this podcast and following discussions almost as entertaining as the show. Although I’m a bit surprised that you’re surprised the finale took all 3 episodes. That seemed inevitable to me given it took 2 episodes just to say goodbye to Georgiou. And speaking of biting it…I’m totally with you on that random bridge officer is likely a goner in the finale. LOL I didn’t even know what the character’s name was until I someone on here mentioned it in the comments.
We learned a lot in this middle episode. Although tedious the negotiations told us a lot about this new world. This attempt to reform the Chain into a legit enterprise reminds of me a line in the movie Romeo Must Die where one gangbanger says to another “You think putting your kids through college is going to make all your crooked straight?” The scientist seems to be willfully ignorant of how the Chain works. Apparently if you don’t witness the bad stuff it must not be happening. In any case, I thought Osyraa’s arc is an excellent foil for Georgiou – both outsiders looking at the Federation, both recognize its values and benefits, but their up close and personal experiences with the Federation end differently. Osyraa could everything she claims to want if she’s willing to personally sacrifice. Unlike Georgiou she refused. Unlike Starfleet members she’s not willing to accept less than for the greater good.
And Burnham’s arc is making me rethink who we’ll see as captain. Earlier Vance asked about her hesitation to make the hard call almost got everyone killed. I wasn’t sure I believed her when she said she wouldn’t hesitate again. Now I do. The scene where she effectively blows Stamets out an airlock, possibly sacrificing part of the crew and any chance to rescue them from the Nebula to save the Federation says she’s ready. It reminded me of the TNG episode where Troi keeps failing the command test because she won’t send a crew member to their death. Many sighs. Let’s hope that call to Gabrielle Burnham who may have access to some futuristic ship transporting technology pays off!
Thanks for your perspective and feedback.
I can’t help but listen to Uhura’s song from “Star Trek V – The Final Frontier” as well as the theme song from “Octop_ssy” time and again… Can you guess why?
Thanks again Laurie and Tony. Really enjoy listening to your discussion on the episode which I always do the day after the episode is available here in the UK (Friday’s). Looking forward to your assessment of the finale!
So glad you are enjoying the podcast. I can’t believe we are almost at the finale! It has gone by very quickly.
Just want to say thanks for your work, Tony and Laurie! I’m loving the podcast! I’ve been highly critical of STD (hmmmm), but agree it’s improving. More fleshing out of the bridge crew, please! I am so glad to listen to podcasters giving an honest, non-corporate drone take on the show. And I’ve got to say I was nicely surprised by the good-hearted STLD and look forward to season 2.
Nice to hear (read) that you’re liking the podcast. They’ve done a great job of fleshing out the bridge crew this season, at least Detmer & Owosekun.