All-purpose, running Geek thread (formerly Battlestar Galactica thread)

Re: Nice Borg Queen
She didn’t replace the Delta Quadrant Borg. They were still existing and evolving while the 21st Century stuff was going on. So my guess is, Nice Borg waited for Janeway to wipe out the OG Borg and filled the vacuum.

As for the season, I agree it was probably a C. There was some cool stuff but the getting into Picard’s feelings about his mom dragged. The payoff wasn’t much and tidying the Q test from TNG in a nice little “I wanted you to realize you don’t need to fix everything” bow kind of cheapened the Q battles in Encounter at Farpoint and All Good Things.

But setting up Khan was cool. The immigration arc was classic Trek. The Traveler S/O was cool even if forced.

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Picard and Discovery suffer the same issues. They opened strong with good ideas and good story lines but they had kernels of ideas after and couldn’t land them. I still watch because I’m with you, just because the writing isn’t what I want, I’m not going to make a grand gesture and quit the show.

 

Stranger Things, season 4, review: this 1980s Americana sci-fi is irresistible – but there's a warning for parents

Stranger Things Season 4 is eight episodes, but over 13 hours. The first seven episodes drop Friday, with the last two July 1. The final episode is two hours, 30 minutes long. WTF?

 

One area in which DC outpaces Marvel is in its animated content. This has been the case since Batman: The Animated Series. It applies to movies and series, even with the reboot crap that DC loves so much. I've watched a lot of it thanks to so much being on HBO Max. I've found one thing that is a little odd.

They keep putting out these movie shorts that are sort of hidden content. There is the main story, usually less than an hour, but you notice there is more to go when the credits start. For example, there is Captain Marvel: The Return of Black Adam. It is a bit overstuffed, squeezing how Billy Batson became Captain Marvel right in the middle of a fight that also involves Superman, but it is fun. Turns out there are three more shorts after it, including a really good one with Green Arrow. You would never know it unless you hung on after the credits. They did it with a few others, too. I just find it interesting that they have these sort-of hidden shorts.

 

I enjoyed stranger things 4. A lot better than season three, which i felt was nothing but nostalgia and action scenes. This season has more tension, good pacing and seems to be heading toward a strong conclusion.

 

Tim Sale, artist of 'Batman: The Long Halloween' and other iconic comics, dies at 66

 

Pleasantly surprised by how much I'm enjoying Strange New Worlds. It feels like ST.

 

We're behind on our viewing of Strange New Worlds (sort of on purpose not to run through them so quickly), but the episode where they save The First Servant was a massive gut punch. The realization that everything doesn't always end up in a tidy little bow after an hour is refreshing, and so many times the writers pull their punches (see Discovery/Picard) that you can guess their next move. That one was nicely veiled until they enter the chamber and you get the "oh, sh--!" moment at the same time as Pike.

The chemistry of that show works so much better than any of the other Trek streaming reboots. I genuinely like Pike and his interreactions with the other characters. Go to a planet, uncover a mystery. Even then, there are still story arcs -- the doctor's kid in statis, for example -- but that's similar to the maturity and growth of the characters rather than pushing the narrative. It feels way more like Next Gen.

I just want to strangle whomever decided Michael Burnham is the only being capable of saving the universe every season. And killing Picard was equal to eliminating Spock in the Wrath of Khan in emotional heft. But in both cases, the writers took away the audiences' investment by the Star Trek rule that "no major character ever actually dies."

Four was a lousy movie for a number of reasons, not just for giving Leonard Nimoy another few milion dollars. And the Picard finale lost its gravitas when Picard was conveniently re-aminated as a cyborg. Really? Picard Season Two has had its moments (again, we haven't watched the entire thing), but I was fine with giving the Captain an honorable death scene.

I love John de Lancie, but don't really need to revisit Q, the Borg Queen, yet another Soong and the origins of Guinan badly enough to care. The writing's just not that strong to overcome what feels like epilogue.

 

They have the benefit of knowing their end point and established character traits but the flexibility to build their own road map because so little is already on the books for Pike’s Enterprise before Kirk took over. They’re really leaning into it.

 

One of the running gags on the old Batman series from the 1960s was celebrities popping out of a window and interacting with Batman and Robin while they supposedly climbed up or down a building. Somebody put together the scenes and posted it on YouTube.

 

If you have not watched the strange new worlds finale yet, go watch the original series' balance of terror first. If you have watched strange new worlds finale, go watch balance of terror anyway



Also: terrible casting decision for that one pivotal character. I will never be swayed from this opinion. Absolutely horseshit.

 

I’ve watched it but I’ll have to go back to Balance of Terror mostly because I don’t remember it.

I think I knew what you’re talking about with the casting. It was an odd choice.