'Star Trek: Discovery' season review - Part Two

Despite Yourself

Knocking it right out of the park, or rather the Prime Universe, from pretty much the get go. This is dramatic, twisty and funny ("Captain Killy") with some great scenes starting a nice arc going.


The Wolf Inside

With a lovely call back to the original Mirror Universe episode i.e. Sarek with a goatee, this story contains further great revelations, a wonderful final scene and Burnham engaging in Kirk level chess moves.

Vaulting Ambition

Having Michelle Yeoh back is lovely in an episode filled with plenty of good horror... and that last revelation makes everything make sense. Some of us saw it coming, but still, a great twist...


What's Past Is Prologue

Jason Isaacs bows out as Gabriel Lorca in dramatic style, closing the arc that started way back in the third episode in great style. He'll be missed and one hopes the next Discovery captain, if it's not Saru, will live up to his memorability.


The War Without, The War Within

This is somewhat of a 'calm before the storm' episode as the ship comes to terms with events beforehand and what their current situation now involves. Again, another great ending.

Will You Take My Hand?

Now this is a superb season finale. It could have been a bit longer - it was a bit rushed - but it's a triumphant validation of Starfleet's ordeals. You know how the story will end, but the journey there is great with Tilly in particular serving as great comic relief and Burnham fully discovering the humanity she's at time lacked.


Conclusion

Definitely a stronger second half; with revelations here retroactively boosting the first half by making strange things clearer. This darker take on Trek remains true to the original spirit of the show, while delivering strong characters and humour; it compliments the more comic The Orville nicely.

I look forward to seeing where this ship boldly goes next season, but please turn the lights up...

9/10

In which everyone commentates on a game being played in the dark

The ongoing Trump situation is one where a lot of people are making guesses as to what they think is going to happen. There's an expression: "These who talk don't know and those who know don't talk".

We don't know what exactly is going through the mind of the key players involved: Robert Mueller, Mike Pence, Trump himself, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell. The GOP's seeming complicity in what is going on is more often than not silence. Nunes is doing his own thing with his failure of a memo, but most Republicans aren't saying anything at all.

We don't know what happens if Mueller suggests Trump gets impeached - or if he'll just indict him anyway. We don't know if Trump will fire him.

And we don't even know what happens if Trump is removed from office. It could be months before he ends up behind bars, if at all. And if Trump's supporters are rabid now...

It's a rather concerning situation, all told.

Plans for 2018

Not a huge number this year, for various reasons. However, one thing I plan to do is a few posts examining a railway timetable I own for January 1958, comparing how things have improved. Or not as the case may be.

Plus a few reviews of things, including hopefully resuming my Star Trek: The Original Series posts once Discovery has finished airing.

Salve Tredecim!

"Twice upon a Time" was a highly enjoyable and emotional Christmas special for Doctor Who, a wonderful ending for the Twelfth Doctor. The 'old-fashioned attitudes' of the First Doctor were slightly over done, but this was a relatively minor issue.

Anyway, I want to talk about the new lady. While she only got two words, those were excellently picked ones, squaring the circle of the Doctor discovering that she has become female for the first time. Whittaker's got a wonderful smile and while the accent may take some getting used (especially for non-Brits), she has already won over a lot of people.

So, onwards to the era of Chris Chibnall, who I'd not actually seen a photograph of until today. Considering he can carry off a velvet jacket just fine, I think we're in good hands.

Vale duodecim

Tomorrow at just before 6pm GMT, the Twelfth Doctor will regenerate, four years to the day after his 'birth' in "The Time of the Doctor".

While looking very much forward to the arrival of 13, who is of course a major change for the show, let us take a moment to give a huge round of applause to Peter Capaldi, who imbued the Doctor with such memorable spirit - and gruffness.

Those eyebrows will be missed.

Christmas wishes

In a year with a lot of sound and fury with normal decorum becoming increasingly rare it seems, I have to draw comfort from something.

I draw comfort from God's son, who came down to Earth, became a manual labourer and then went around for three years preaching that there is a better way of doing things than acquiring wealth and power.

This Christmas, my call on people is to play the ball not the person. If you disagree with someone's argument, attack their reasoning and persuade them of their point of view. Don't call them stupid or traitors. Understand why they might think that way.

Otherwise words will soon turn to blows.

On that note, have a safe and non-argumentative Christmas.

Brexit Phase 1 agreement

So I've had a look at the understanding reached on the 'divorce bill'. Here are my thoughts:

• Protecting the rights of EU citizens already here is important, asking them to apply for permanent residency is an inconvenience, but a necessary one so we know who has a right to live here.
• The Common Travel Area cannot be eliminated in the British Isles anyway, it's been there for too long. Customs checks are impractical - but perhaps there could be a 'clearing house' system allowing for bulk payments each quarter?
• Any trade deal will likely involve us making some payments. There is no such thing as a free lunch in these matters.
• The UK should adopt standards for goods equal to or better than the current EU ones. That is effective regulatory equivalence while not tying ourselves to the single market rules if we don't want that; some goods might have to be labelled differently when rules diverge.
• This could still all go pear-shaped.

Northern Ireland and Brexit

It seems that the main sticking point over moves to trade talks is what do about the Northern Irish/Irish border. A ‘hard border’ on the island of Ireland is going to be immensely disruptive. A border across the Irish Sea is also going to be rather disruptive for places like Holyhead (who will need a lot of building work done for customs facilities) and will put the whole of the UK under strain. No border at all i.e. staying in the Single Market and Customs Union is remaining in the EU in all but name and completely unacceptable to a lot of leaver supporters as it will mean accepting freedom of movement.

 

Theresa May is probably regretting having become PM now…

Net neutrality

On 7 December, the US Federal Communications Commission is likely to vote to remove "net neutrality", the requirement that internet service providers treat all traffic coming through them equally and do not discriminate for or against a particular traffic source with different speeds.

This has got parts of the Internet, Reddit in particular, up in arms. With internet provision in the US largely restricted to four big providers (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon & Time Warner), with some areas only having access to one, they are concerned this will lead to sites that particular ISP doesn't like being throttled or even blocked, especially if the site doesn't pay what the ISP wants. Netflix has had this problem in the past. With US internet costs pretty high as is (like $120 a month) this is something that they are not happy about.

I don't want this to go - it won't personally affect me and there doesn't seem to be any danger of it happening in the UK, Brexit or otherwise. It will be bad for many start-ups - survivable, but still bad.

However, I sincerely hope that social media can also get as worked up about issues more important to all our future than internet speeds. Like climate change.

54 Years of Doctor Who

Well, it's certainly been an interesting year for the show; Season 10 was on the whole pretty good and Capaldi was excellent - with Matt Lucas surprising in his quality as well.

Then we got the really big news. With Capaldi's departure, speculation over who would replace him was intense... and when it was announced after the Wimbledon final, the fandom went a bit crazy.

We'll be entering a new era come Christmas Day and I for one welcome our new female Time Lord...

Exit Robert Mugabe

It looks very much like Robert Mugabe is going to be impeached and removed from office tomorrow after refusing to step down following the coup.

He won't be missed; his economic mismanagement turned Zimbabwe into a basket case for one thing. That and he was a dictator.

Hopefully his successors will be better; while the 'heir apparent' is seen as a hardliner, I suspect he will make some serious concessions to shore up his position.

'Star Trek: Discovery' season review - Part One

The Vulcan Hello 

In what seems to be the first part of a two-part prologue we get a strong introduction to Michael Burnham, who is headstrong to put it mildly. The episode honours original Trek while taking it up a level and the 'new' Klingons look great.

 

Battle at the Binary Stars

They certainly didn't do battles like this back in TOS, that's for sure. Not quite as good as the first episode, but a strong part two in which Burnham's plan goes completely Pete Tong MBE. It's a pity that Georgiou is only around for two episodes, but someone had to be the sacrificial lamb here and Michelle Yeoh does a great job.

 

Context is for Kings

Lorca… seems rather untrustworthy. Our proper 'pilot' introduces us to a batch of the new queue, including some welcome comic relief in the form of Cadet Tilly, an intriguing story arc involving new technology that seems likely to end badly and some epic quoting of Alice in Wonderland. Burnham is annoyingly self-confident, but I think she's meant to be here and part of the "Discovery" of the title is her finding her tact.

 

The Butcher's…

A regular named character dies with relatively little warning, there's some questionable activity going on with this ship and we get a rather classic twist on the big scary alien. A distinctly average episode, but things are moving along.

 

Choose Your Pain

The strongest episode so far. We're really getting into the story now and amazingly Mudd manages not to be annoying. Deeply dislikeable, that's for sure, but definitely not annoying. Glad that one particular character didn't die and it's also clear that Lorca has some serious issues.

 

Lethe

An episode focussing very much on Burnham's own background, this is a well-written tale although arguably not the best. The 'Disco' T-shirts are hilarious – even many of the crew weren't aware of them. Interesting twist ending mind – Lorca is looking more suspicious now.

 

Magic to Make…

Definitely the most fun – and funny – episode so far. Works perfectly fine as a standalone and is arguably the most Trek episode so far. Harcourt Fenton Mudd again isn't annoying, which is amazing and it's nice to see the 'personal log' back.

 

Se Vis Pacem...

Another very Trek episode; this wouldn't be out of place in the original series, that's for sure. A lot of good twists along the way, strong material for everyone (including the Klingons) and a strong cliff-hanger.

 

Into the Forest I Go

A great fall finale, which ties up a good deal – but by no means all – of the loose ends. Some really great action throughout, some strong tension (one particular character has become much loved) and a superb cliff-hanger that I'm looking forward to seeing resolved.

Overall

Started fairly strong, got very strong. The characters are all memorable and recognisable on sight, which is a good thing. The visual update works and I'm looking forward to Part 2 in January.

Remembrance 2017

I've just come back from a holiday in Malta, which was itself subjected to a two and a half year siege and thousands of air raids by the Axis powers during the Second World War. It was the most bombed place on earth in relation to its size. The RAF suffered huge losses defending a small but strategically vital island and 1,300 civilians themselves were killed.

It's not just soldiers who are victims of war - it never has been. Refugees, reporters, aid workers and others, all are impacted in some way.

We will remember them.

'Mystery Science Theater 3000' 11.10, "Wizards of the Lost Kingdom"

This 1985 American movie is very silly without possessing the understanding that it is silly, which would make it more enjoyable. It seems that only 58 minutes of footage was actually usable from the production with the prologue (heavily edited here) lifted from other films. It has a 2.6/10 rating on IMDB, which is not good by any stretch of the imagination.

Accordingly, we get ourselves a very good episode of the show, with riffs that, while lacking any legendary ones, gently keep me engaged. The interludes further sending up the movie are also very strong.

Not a classic, but another really solid effort.

8/10

Saudi Arabia intercepts long-range ballistic missile heading for Riyadh

BBC News Report

 

This is probably the first time a ‘rebel’ group has managed to fire a missile of that long a range – I strongly suspect that they modified a Scud to do this. However, it took a lot of work for relatively little gain… as do most ballistic missile programmes.

 

Suspect this will get quite a bit of analysis in the next couple of weeks.

Thoughts on Brexit

I strongly suspect we will be heading for a no deal situation and reverting to WTO rules when dealing with the EU-27. This is going to be highly inconvenient for many people, especially in terms of foreign travel and trade. I doubt it will be as bad as some think, but it’s not going to be easy to deal with for many.

 

Perhaps, in time, we’ll re-join the EU. We’d have to accept Schengen and possibly the Euro, but would either of those be that bad? The problem with immigration is that we’re not building enough houses, basically.

Harvey Weinstein

The allegations against this man, who had huge power in Hollywood until recently, are serious and deserve proper investigation. However, sexual misconduct is a problem not just limited to Hollywood but is a society-wide problem.

I think there is a simple thing that people should do: ask permission before making any sexual moves on another person. What you may interpret as being a tease is not always so.

Secret '67

I am currently running a 1960s set espionage game over at Myth-Weavers going bay the name of 'Secret '67':

Game here

Please take a look. I'm having a very good time writing this and the research I have done to get the period detail correct (especially regarding transport) has been very interesting indeed.

60 years of spaceflight

Today marks 60 years since the launch of Sputnik 1 started the Space Age.

I for one think it is a real pity man hasn't gone beyond the moon.

Maybe it will happen by the 70th anniversary. We can only hope.

Las Vegas

It doesn't ultimately matter what the motivations were for a man to fire masses of bullets into a country music festival in Las Vegas, then kill himself before the police arrive.

58 people are still dead, their families are in mourning. They should be in our thoughts tonight... and we should work out how to prevent more things like this from happening.