The TV and Streaming Thread: Now up for syndication...

[Raithe]

The Wheel of Time writer Brandon Sanderson thinks the show is "fantastic" (winteriscoming.net)

 

[Lexx]

I also think that everything I do is fantastic.

[Maedhros]

I ended up not liking Midnight Mass, despite a promising start. It just tries way too hard to be meaningful, and does it in the least subtle way with the infamous monologues. The only one that worked was the first one, when two characters who clearly care for each other talk about death.

 

The one with the Sheriff talking about 9/11 (a story we've heard a thousand times before) has to be the worst one, especially in the context he's doing it in. Recieve urgent news from a character we've never seen you interact with before? Let's tell her your entire background story in the most unnecessarily long-winded way possible.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Maedhros

[majestic]

47 minutes ago, Maedhros said:

I ended up not liking Midnight Mass, despite a promising start. It just tries way too hard to be meaningful, and does it in the least subtle way with the infamous monologues. The only one that worked was the first one, when two characters who clearly care for each other talk about death.

Nitpicky remark: Monologues require the absence of other characters, hence the name. Mono, from ancient Greek mónos, meaning single. Just because someone is giving a long winded explanation to another character doesn't make it a monologue.

[Gromnir]

3 minutes ago, majestic said:

Nitpicky remark: Monologues require the absence of other characters, hence the name. Mono, from ancient Greek mónos, meaning single. Just because someone is giving a long winded explanation to another character doesn't make it a monologue.

you may be confusing with soliloquy, 'cause regardless o' root, addressing another character does not remove from possibility o' being a monologue.

HA! Good Fun!

[Maedhros]

9 minutes ago, majestic said:

Nitpicky remark: Monologues require the absence of other characters, hence the name. Mono, from ancient Greek mónos, meaning single. Just because someone is giving a long winded explanation to another character doesn't make it a monologue.

A monologue is when you're speaking at people, instead of with them. It's a prolonged talk by a single speaker, hence "mono". It's not because there aren't any other people around.

[Guard Dog]

We started watching WoT last night. We are both in to it. G never read the books. So far I'm liking the actors and characterizations. Sure some liberties and changes are expected but it's still checking off the major plot boxes. My advice to the show runners is keep doing what you're doing. Stick to the broad strokes of the book plots and you've got a real winner on your hands. 

[Bartimaeus]

1 hour ago, Lexx said:

I also think that everything I do is fantastic.

Yeah, I think for the people who are already on the "it's too different and they already really messed it up" boat, no amount of "it's actually good just keep watching bro" propaganda is going to help.

1 hour ago, Maedhros said:

I ended up not liking Midnight Mass, despite a promising start. It just tries way too hard to be meaningful, and does it in the least subtle way with the infamous monologues. The only one that worked was the first one, when two characters who clearly care for each other talk about death.

If I didn't identify so much with many of the ideas and themes, I am certain I would like it a great deal less than I do.

3 hours ago, majestic said:

Well, look at me going into hypercritical mode in spite of really enjoying the series.

There's always unrealized potential in everything if you think long and hard enough, . The Joe/drug dealer idea would've been pretty great as well as possibly hilarious.

[majestic]

@Gromnir, @Maedhros

Apparently monologues are defined differently in German and English literary theory. In German literary theory, a monologue is never addressed directly at someone, and when it takes the form of a speech, it only counts as a monologue if it written in a way that precludes it being addressed to any one character in particular, i.e. the monologue itself still works if you remove the other present characters, like the audience of a speech. An answer to a question, no matter how long winded and expository it ends up being - and in this case Sarah asking the Sheriff why he's not going to follow up on her kooky idea that the faith on the Island is spreading an unknown contagion with supernatural properties that nobody is going to believe without proof that she does not have at the time - just cannot be a monologue.

Needles to say that German literary theory also makes no distinction between monologue and soliloquy (or soliloquium, which is just Latin for monologue, being a direct translation from ancient Greek).

So indeed, I made the mistake of assuming that monologues are the same in German and English, and thought I'd nitpick. Geez, way to look stupid.

Edited December 5, 2021 by majestic

[Gfted1]

True Story on Netfix. Pretty good but I saw the "twist" from the second episode.

[LadyCrimson]

I keep meaning to try watching that Netflix modern-western with Benedict Cumberbatch in it ... Power of the Dog or something like that ... that's getting general rave reviews for some reason, but then I just keep watching soap opera melodrama kdrama's instead.

Also, after Breaking Bad and Fargo series, I have a difficult time watching Jessie Plemons. Because of those roles, his face just instantly annoys me.

[Raithe]

‘The Wheel Of Time’ Rounds Out Season 2 Recurring Cast – Deadline

So season 2 will fully introduce Lord Agelmar, Uno, Masema, Ingtar, and Lady Amalisa. Although Agelmar and Amalisa have guest appearances in season 1....

[Zoraptor]

Ingtar was originally in S1 as well, but that actor had a scheduling clash for S2 so they've renamed the S1 version. Allegedly Uno is in S1 as well but doesn't get lines (and is probably portrayed by a random extra wearing an eyepatch).

[uuuhhii]

remember so little of the book not even sure what the show changed

but pretty sure there are a lot less travelling time so far

a pretty good change

[Raithe]

For a bit of a callback on things, its an element of the uber geek research and some of the controversy that kicked off a year back when the cast was announced:

A couple of the key WoT community streamers actually break down the books and "racial profiles" , the arguments large chunks of the fan base had and do the "well, actually, if you did the research on the books and in Jordan's notes..."

[Raithe]

 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Raithe

[Raithe]

Also kind of interesting.

As much of a talk about novelists vs hollywood writers, elements of adaptions, and a few other things along with discussion of Sanderson's connection with the WoT adaption.

 

[majestic]

Star Dreck: The adventures of Therapy Posts on the Obsidian Forum, part 4.

Burnham crying counter: 1:3.

As I sit here and prepare, my breathing is deep and relaxed. There is no emotion, there is peace. Wait, wrong franchise. Let me try that again. In accepting the inevitable, one finds peace.

Spoiler

Episode begins with a very helpful reminder that Gray is now an actual, if slightly artificial person. I wonder if they're going to reference Data's "I'm fully functional." at some point. I guess Gray isn't going to be programmed for multiple techniques, at least. What a wonderful mental reminder that TNG didn't start out as the best of Trek either. Unlike this Discovery tripe though, it grew into geat Trek eventually.

What's wrong with your faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace?

It's never a good sign when you pause at a random alien and wonder how they got into their uniform with that head. Seriously. There's no way she put on that uniform BEFORE she put on the head. Michael's opening narration tells us that the stress is taking its toll on the Discovery crew. You know, for the first time in three seasons now they're actually doing nothing, having spent a week in orbit over Vulcan (imagine reading Ni'Var when I talk about Vulcan, because f*ck that namechange).

What stress? The weird anomaly that's threatning to gobble up the entire galaxy that currently isn't en route to any inhabited planet? That's getting to me to, to be honest. This is on the same level of ridiculous as Kirk's Beyond Crap monologue about getting old. Old. Get that guys, Chris Pine is feeling old in Star Trek: Beyond, at the age of 25 or something. Yeah, never mind. Michael mandated the crew get downtime.

Wowzers. Not bad Michael. When do I get some downtime from watching this? Will there be a winter break? Probably not with my luck. Admiral Vance has a stomach bug - a literal one, more or less, an alien worm parasite - and is undergoing Ivermectin therapy, so he can't attend some diplomatic shindig on Vulcan, and they ask Burnham to replace him. Does the entire Federation consist of the crew of the Discovery? Burnham, who ever so helpfully messed up first contact with King Batman and his Robins in the first episode?

To her credit, Burnham doesn't want to go, but Saru insists the Federation president wasn't making a suggestion.

Tilly talks to Culber about her mission with the Kyabuu Babaya last week, and says she tried this absolute candor stuff with herself (for anyone readon who hasn't followed Picard or parts of Discovery, the Kumquat Millers are always totally honest). Here's what I thought she was going to say:

"I know I'm just the body positivity token on the crew, but I kind of want more, or I'll just leave."

OR

"I realize I'm on the fast track to metabolic syndrome, can we do something about that, doctor?"

But nope. She's talking about not being certain that she wants command of a starship in the future, and Culber sends her on a team building excerise with the new Starfleet Academy cadets. I wonder if he means all of the sixteen cadets from the first episode, or just some?

Cut to Gray who now rocks the worst mullet since the 80ies. Adira needs to go on that teambuilding excercise too. That's going to be fun. Adira and Tilly, my favorite crewmembers. There was a time when Tilly was, along with Saru, the only one on this show to give it her best, but that seems to have disappeared.

Wake me up, before you go-go!

Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo!

Wham! has a painful talk about making new acquaintences and Adira complains about being sent away when the Tal symbiote is older than the burn.

Dr. Woody Allen, played by David Cronenberg, is really unhappy to get Tilly and Adira from Discovery. I guess he ain't touching these two, is he? Yes, this is rock bottom, I think. That joke is really, really bad. Like, almost as bad as this show.

Just get out of my sight, I asked for young girls. PRETTY young girls, not these two.

Star Trek is back to using props and prosthetics that Paramount was using for some other production to cut down costs. Adira is assigned to a Zombie-Rastafari alien, unamed slasher victim cadet and something that looks like a leftover from some Orion Frankenstein remake project.

Ever since I died, me ganja mon, it ain't workin' no more.

I can't help it, Tilly does not look well.

Listen here, Tilly, I had metabolic syndrome myself. Waking up sick to the point of throwing up, being lethargic all the time, the works. Have you checked your blood sugar levels recently?

Wow. The shuttle they're on for the excerise is hit by a "rogue gamma ray burst" and is going down. Cadet Slasher victim called "Sasha" says she's a trained pilot and wants to take over helm, but Tilly is like "No, get back to your post!", neatly spoiling that their crash is just going to be the actual excercise, not that lame ass planetary survey they were supposed to do. As if being hit by an unexpected gamma ray burst in a shuttle and surviving isn't clue enough. It smashed the shuttle hard enough to knock it off course and fry the engines, there's no way anyone inside survived being exposed to high energy gamma rays. 

Ganja-Mon is called Gorev and has small tusks. Some creative naming going on here. Indian Frankenstein is called Rajesh. No, wait, that's a racist stereotype. It's Cadet Harral, I think, and the actor playing him is simply a painted white bread that in the wrong light looks like he is in brown face. It's green, really, but... oh boy. This episode just keeps on giving. Random shuttle pilot is apparently dead.

Hah, Brown-Green!Face Rajesh figured out that their crash is part of the excercise and begins to chill. Good Lord my man, who gave you that line to say? Rajesh and Ganja-Mon trip over each other and almost get into a fist fight. Yeah. Come on, play the Scott Pilgrim boss battle music and let's have at it!

No?

Nope.

Tilly shuts that down. Oh my, Tilly. You'll end up being back to the fast track towards command at the end of the episode, huh? Yikes, the cadets get first names. Val "Slasher Victim" Sasha, Taahz Gorev (Me Taahz, mon. Pleased to meet cha.) and... Harral, Orion. No last name, or first name, apparently, but time enough to complain that he's the victim of racist stereotypes against Orions. No sh*t Rajesh. Seriously, am I the only one that noticed that in this makeup and with that hairdo Harral looks like Rajesh the unhelpful Callcenter Agent?

International iRabbit helpline, I'm Rajesh, I'll be your contact today. Thank you for purchasing the iRabbit, how may I help you?

We're cutting back to Vulcan, where undoubtedly a diplomatic crisis is waiting for Burnham and Saru to fix before Vulcan rejoins the Federation. Let's see what it is. Wow. Vulcan wants an exit clause to be able to withdraw from the Federation should the need arise. That's it? That's... that's... what the writers came up with? Holy crap. President Rillak is having none of this. Unconditional leaving is out of the question. Why? Because it's a dangerous precedent and weakens the Federation.

Now Booker is having a therapy session with Culber. I like how everyone on the Discovery needs a shrink. That's certainly going to raise awareness, just like having these two non-starter non-binary types as role models for a whole new generation of Star Trek fans. Honestly, with this being so bad, all this does is leave itself wide open for attack. We have a saying here: Das Gegenteil von gut ist gut gemeint. It's similar to "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." but more literally translated means the opposite of well done is well meant. The full quote, allegedly said by Kurt Tucholsky, is (literally translated): The opposite of good isn't evil, but 'meant well'.

I think that applies to this pile of manure pretty much. Star Trek was always some of the wokest stuff on the air, even when the term woke wasn't coined yet (for anything but the past tense of wake, I mean). This is just painful, and not helpful. Ugh.

Back to the negotiations, Federation president Rillak is afraid to show weakness. Weakness? Really? Is that what we're going with? Weakness in the face of what? A random anomaly? Hey president, do you know more than we do? Hey? Hello?

Oh noes, Tilly and her shuttle crashed on the planet of the rocket worms. Hey, is this really not a part of the exercise? I mean, they can't be that dumb. Wait, what did I just say? Never mind. The rocket worms are attracted to electromagnetic signatures, and Tilly gasps: THAT'S ALL OUR EQUIPMENT! Ganja-Mon wants to shoot them. Hey pot brain, if that thing tracks energy, then have fun playing  thumper on Arrakis. Where are you from, really? Planet Moron?

Back at the diplomatic crisis, Vulcan president What'sherface tells Saru that she needs the Federation to be accountable in the face of this anomaly. What? Is the Federation going to do something to the anomaly that will make it go hurtling towards Vulcan? Has someone time-travelled here?

Okay, Adira gets stuck in some ice-quicksand and they drag her out of it. The rocket worms that look more like the final alien form from Evolution are approaching fast. Ganja-Mon and Rajesh are having a racist duke-out, and Tilly talks around. They're talking, for like minutes, in the middle of a dangerous lightning storm that when it strikes the ground, apparently creates quick-ice pits that freeze anyone in place. Like that ice stuff last season, when Billy the Kid talked with Tilly. Tilly should know that stuff and freak out now.

Ganja-Mon is accusing Rajesh of being a colonial overlord. Good grief. Hey knucklehead, India was a colony too.

So Burnham propses an independent oversight committee as a solution to this diplomatic problem and promptly nominates herself to be on it. A citizen of Vulcan (yeah Michael, a thousand years ago, do you think your citizenship is still valid?) and a Starfleet officer. I guess that's one way to be independent. Just be on both sides at once.

Tilly nominates herself to go on a run and distract the creature so the others can call the ship that's supposed to come pick them up. Wow. Yeah, Tilly, I don't know how to tell you this, but Adira wants to run, and I'm pretty sure Adira is a lot quicker than you are. But, hey, maybe this is really "real" and Tilly gets eaten by the creature. Nope, they end up phasering it a bit, then they all get beamed up. In the next scene, Adira and the cadets are all laughing and joking around, and Tilly has a huge grin on her face while Woody Allen comes back and tells them that the loss of the shuttle pilot really is a tragedy.

Last couple of episodes Tilly lost it when people died that she spent less time with. Man show, really? Also, what the hell, you're telling me that rogue gamma burst was meant seriously?

Woody Allen offers Tilly a place as instructor at the Academy. Please Tilly, take him up on it. PLEASE.

Book has some more therapy with Culber, and Tilly... Tilly takes the position at the Academy! Yay! Finally. Please make it so the Academy isn't a regular location now. PLEASE. PLEASE. Now you only need to do away with Michael, Adira, uhm, that Cyborg pilot, the... well, basically everyone except Saru, Culber and maybe Stamets.

Yeah, that's not going to happen, is it?

Tilly is hugging everyone goodbye to a depressing piece of trashy violin music. Android!Mullet gives Adira a Discovery snow globe with "ALL IS POSSIBLE" written on it. A title drop for the episode. Man, someone spent time creating that prop for one of the people on the writing staff to feel really clever about themselves now.

Burnham crying counter unchanged. I think they're doing this on purpose. I feel like that last scene is one where pre-season-four Michael would have cried. Copiously.

Edited December 9, 2021 by majestic
Minor typos

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

14 minutes ago, majestic said:

Star Dreck: The adventures of Therapy Posts on the Obsidian Forum, part 4.

Burnham crying counter: 1:3.

As I sit here and prepare, my breathing is deep and relaxed. There is no emotion, there is peace. Wait, wrong franchise. Let me try that again. In accepting the inevitable, one finds peace.

  Reveal hidden contents

Episode begins with a very helpful reminded that Gray is now an actual, if slightly artificial person. I wonder if they're going to reference Data's "I'm fully functional." at some point. I guess Gray isn't going to be programmed for multiple techniques, at least. What a wonderful mental reminder that TNG didn't start out as the best of Trek either. Unlike this Discovery tripe though, it grew into geat Trek eventually.

What's wrong with your faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace?

It's never a good sign when you pause at a random alien and wonder how they got into their uniform with that head. Seriously. There's no way she put on that uniform BEFORE she put on the head. Michael's opening narration tells us that the stress is taking its toll on the Discovery crew. You know, for the first time in three seasons now they're actually doing nothing, having spent a week in orbit over Vulcan (imagine reading Ni'Var when I talk about Vulcan, because f*ck that namechange).

What stress? The weird anomaly that's threatning to gobble up the entire galaxy that currently isn't en route to any inhabited planet? That's getting to me to, to be honest. This is on the same level of ridiculous as Kirk's Beyond Crap monologue about getting old. Old. Get that guys, Chris Pine is feeling old in Star Trek: Beyond, at the age of 25 or something. Yeah, never mind. Michael mandated the crew get downtime.

Wowzers. Not bad Michael. When do I get some downtime from watching this? Will there be a winter break? Probably not with my luck. Admiral Vance has a stomach bug - a literal one, more or less, an alien worm parasite - and is undergoing Ivermectin therapy, so he can't attend some diplomatic shindig on Vulcan, and they ask Burnham to replace him. Does the entire Federation consist of the crew of the Discovery? Burnham, who ever so helpfully messed up first contact with King Batman and his Robins in the first episode?

To her credit, Burnham doesn't want to go, but Saru insists the Federation president wasn't making a suggestion.

Tilly talks to Culber about her mission with the Kyabuu Babaya last week, and says she tried this absolute candor stuff with herself (for anyone readon who hasn't followed Picard or parts of Discovery, the Kumquat Millers are always totally honest). Here's what I thought she was going to say:

"I know I'm just the body positivity token on the crew, but I kind of want more, or I'll just leave."

OR

"I realize I'm on the fast track to metabolic syndrome, can we do something about that, doctor?"

But nope. She's talking about not being certain that she wants command of a starship in the future, and Culber sends her on a team building excerise with the new Starfleet Academy cadets. I wonder if he means all of the sixteen cadets from the first episode, or just some?

Cut to Gray who now rocks the worst mullet since the 80ies. Adira needs to go on that teambuilding excercise too. That's going to be fun. Adira and Tilly, my favorite crewmembers. There was a time when Tilly was, along with Saru, the only one on this show to give it her best, but that seems to have disappeared.

Wake me up, before you go-go!

Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo!

Wham! has a painful talk about making new acquaintences and Adira complains about being sent away when the Tal symbiote is older than the burn.

Dr. Woody Allen, played by David Cronenberg, is really unhappy to get Tilly and Adira from Discovery. I guess he ain't touching these two, is he? Yes, this is rock bottom, I think. That joke is really, really bad. Like, almost as bad as this show.

Just get out of my sight, I asked for young girls. PRETTY young girls, not these two.

Star Trek is back to using props and prosthetics that Paramount was using for some other production to cut down costs. Adira is assigned to a Zombie-Rastafari alien, unamed slasher victim cadet and something that looks like a leftover from some Orion Frankenstein remake project.

Ever since I died, me ganja mon, it ain't workin' no more.

I can't help it, Tilly does not look well.

Listen here, Tilly, I had metabolic syndrome myself. Waking up sick to the point of throwing up, being lethargic all the time, the works. Have you checked your blood sugar levels recently?

Wow. The shuttle they're on for the excerise is hit by a "rogue gamma ray burst" and is going down. Cadet Slasher victim called "Sasha" says she's a trained pilot and wants to take over helm, but Tilly is like "No, get back to your post!", neatly spoiling that their crash is just going to be the actual excercise, not that lame ass planetary survey they were supposed to do. As if being hit by an unexpected gamma ray burst in a shuttle and surviving isn't clue enough. It smashed the shuttle hard enough to knock it off course and fry the engines, there's no way anyone inside survived being exposed to high energy gamma rays. 

Ganja-Mon is called Gorev and has small tusks. Some creative naming going on here. Indian Frankenstein is called Rajesh. No, wait, that's a racist stereotype. It's Cadet Harral, I think, and the actor playing him is simply a painted white bread that in the wrong light looks like he is in brown face. It's green, really, but... oh boy. This episode just keeps on giving. Random shuttle pilot is apparently dead.

Hah, Brown-Green!Face Rajesh figured out that their crash is part of the excercise and begins to chill. Good Lord my man, who gave you that line to say? Rajesh and Ganja-Mon trip over each other and almost get into a fist fight. Yeah. Come on, play the Scott Pilgrim boss battle music and let's have at it!

No?

Nope.

Tilly shuts that down. Oh my, Tilly. You'll end up being back to the fast track towards command at the end of the episode, huh? Yikes, the cadets get first names. Val "Slasher Victim" Sasha, Taahz Gorev (Me Taahz, mon. Pleased to meet cha.) and... Harral, Orion. No last name, or first name, apparently, but time enough to complain that he's the victim of racist stereotypes against Orions. No sh*t Rajesh. Seriously, am I the only one that noticed that in this makeup and with that hairdo Harral looks like Rajesh the unhelpful Callcenter Agent?

International iRabbit helpline, I'm Rajesh, I'll be your contact today. Thank you for purchasing the iRabbit, how may I help you?

We're cutting back to Vulcan, where undoubtedly a diplomatic crisis is waiting for Burnham and Saru to fix before Vulcan rejoins the Federation. Let's see what it is. Wow. Vulcan wants an exit clause to be able to withdraw from the Federation should the need arise. That's it? That's... that's... what the writers came up with? Holy crap. President Rillak is having none of this. Unconditional leaving is out of the question. Why? Because it's a dangerous precedent and weakens the Federation.

Now Booker is having a therapy session with Culber. I like how everyone on the Discovery needs a shrink. That's certainly going to raise awareness, just like having these two non-starter non-binary types as role models for a whole new generation of Star Trek fans. Honestly, with this being so bad, all this does is leave itself wide open for attack. We have a saying here: Das Gegenteil von gut ist gut gemeint. It's similar to "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." but more literally translated means the opposite of well done is well meant. The full quote, allegedly said by Kurt Tucholsky, is (literally translated): The opposite of good isn't evil, but 'meant well'.

I think that applies to this pile of manure pretty much. Star Trek was always some of the wokest stuff on the air, even when the term woke wasn't coined yet (for anything but the past tense of wake, I mean). This is just painful, and not helpful. Ugh.

Back to the negotiations, Federation president Rillak is afraid to show weakness. Weakness? Really? Is that what we're going with? Weakness in the face of what? A random anomaly? Hey president, do you know more than we do? Hey? Hello?

Oh noes, Tilly and her shuttle crashed on the planet of the rocket worms. Hey, is this really not a part of the exercise? I mean, they can't be that dumb. Wait, what did I just say? Never mind. The rocket worms are attracted to electromagnetic signatures, and Tilly gasps: THAT'S ALL OUR EQUIPMENT! Ganja-Mon wants to shoot them. Hey pot brain, if that thing tracks energy, then have fun playing  thumper on Arrakis. Where are you from, really? Planet Moron?

Back at the diplomatic crisis, Vulcan president What'sherface tells Saru that she needs the Federation to be accountable in the face of this anomaly. What? Is the Federation going to do something to the anomaly that will make it go hurtling towards Vulcan? Has someone time-travelled here?

Okay, Adira gets stuck in some ice-quicksand and they drag her out of it. The rocket worms that look more like the final alien form from Evolution are approaching fast. Ganja-Mon and Rajesh are having a racist duke-out, and Tilly talks around. They're talking, for like minutes, in the middle of a dangerous lightning storm that when it strikes the ground, apparently creates quick-ice pits that freeze anyone in place. Like that ice stuff last season, when Billy the Kid talked with Tilly. Tilly should know that stuff and freak out now.

Ganja-Mon is accusing Rajesh of being a colonial overlord. Good grief. Hey knucklehead, India was a colony too.

So Burnham propses an independent oversight committee as a solution to this diplomatic problem and promptly nominates herself to be on it. A citizen of Vulcan (yeah Michael, a thousand years ago, do you think your citizenship is still valid?) and a Starfleet officer. I guess that's one way to be independent. Just be on both sides at once.

Tilly nominates herself to go on a run and distract the creature so the others can call the ship that's supposed to come pick them up. Wow. Yeah, Tilly, I don't know how to tell you this, but Adira wants to run, and I'm pretty sure Adira is a lot quicker than you are. But, hey, maybe this is really "real" and Tilly gets eaten by the creature. Nope, they end up phasering it a bit, then they all get beamed up. In the next scene, Adira and the cadets are all laughing and joking around, and Tilly has a huge grin on her face while Woody Allen comes back and tells them that the loss of the shuttle pilot really is a tragedy.

Last couple of episodes Tilly lost it when people died that she spent less time with. Man show, really? Also, what the hell, you're telling me that rogue gamma burst was meant seriously?

Woody Allen offers Tilly a place as instructor at the Academy. Please Tilly, take him up on it. PLEASE.

Book has some more therapy with Culber, and Tilly... Tilly takes the position at the Academy! Yay! Finally. Please make it so the Academy isn't a regular location now. PLEASE. PLEASE. Now you only need to do away with Michael, Adira, uhm, that Cyborg pilot, the... well, basically everyone except Saru, Culber and maybe Stamets.

Yeah, that's not going to happen, is it?

Tilly is hugging everyone goodbye to a depressing piece of trashy violin music. Android!Mullet gives Adira a Discovery snow globe with "ALL IS POSSIBLE" written on it. A title drop for the episode. Man, someone spent time creating that prop for one of the people on the writing staff to feel really clever about themselves now.

Burnham crying counter unchanged. I think they're doing this on purpose. I feel like that last scene is one where pre-season-four Michael would have cried. Copiously.

That's a lot of effort analyzing a show that doesn't exist in this world line.

[Bartimaeus]

10 minutes ago, KP on top of ZA WARUDO said:

That's a lot of effort analyzing a show that doesn't exist in this world line.

Yeah, I didn't get why the spoiler didn't just have a gif of a dog taking a crap either, really - weird choice, @majestic, .

Real talk: I think majestic has proved to me that unless I actually care about a show, you can literally say the entire plot of an episode and I will not be able to mentally connect the dots from one paragraph to the next, because I simply cannot make my brain simply retain any information about a show that I care absolutely not at all about. Actually, having even more detail probably has the opposite intended effect - if it was just one or two paragraphs concerning the most outrageous bits, I could probably handle and make sense of that...but when you have 20 paragraphs about something I already ejected from my brain between now and the last time you talked about an episode, I lose the thread quite quickly. I have the bad brain.

38 minutes ago, majestic said:

two non-starter

Do I dare ask what this even means in the context which you said it?

41 minutes ago, majestic said:

Now Booker is having a therapy session with Culber. I like how everyone on the Discovery needs a shrink. That's certainly going to raise awareness, just like having these two non-starter non-binary types as role models for a whole new generation of Star Trek fans. Honestly, with this being so bad, all this does is leave itself wide open for attack. We have a saying here: Das Gegenteil von gut ist gut gemeint. It's similar to "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." but more literally translated means the opposite of well done is well meant. The full quote, allegedly said by Kurt Tucholsky, is (literally translated): The opposite of good isn't evil, but 'meant well'.

I think that applies to this pile of manure pretty much. Star Trek was always some of the wokest stuff on the air, even when the term woke wasn't coined yet (for anything but the past tense of wake, I mean). This is just painful, and not helpful. Ugh.

Who is the intended audience of this show anyway? ...Actual aliens, perhaps?

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

22 minutes ago, Bartimaeus said:

Who is the intended audience of this show anyway? ...Actual aliens, perhaps?

Worse, redditors.

[Zoraptor]

Dunno, from what I've seen it's not very popular on reddit either, except in places criticism is banned.

That clearly isn't Woody Allen- it's 100% John Munch. Star Trek added to Munchverse; Homicide: LotS/ L&O holodeck crossover incoming.

1 hour ago, Bartimaeus said:

Real talk: I think majestic has proved to me that unless I actually care about a show, you can literally say the entire plot of an episode and I will not be able to mentally connect the dots from one paragraph to the next, because I simply cannot make my brain simply retain any information about a show that I care absolutely not at all about. Actually, having even more detail probably has the opposite intended effect - if it was just one or two paragraphs concerning the most outrageous bits, I could probably handle and make sense of that...but when you have 20 paragraphs about something I already ejected from my brain between now and the last time you talked about an episode, I lose the thread quite quickly. I have the bad brain.

Weird thing for me is that I only stopped watching 5 episodes ago and I literally cannot remember who half the characters are, they're like a singularity of blandness. I last saw, say, Blake's 7 more than 25 years ago but I can remember some single episode characters better than main cast Discovery people.

I watched the thing for three seasons and I actively had to think about who Culber is.

And I have to say, since it reinforces the whole "road to hell.." thing the only thing I actually remembered about Culber is that he's the gay doctor. OK, and that he got killed by Michael's beardy emo cryptohuman S1 boyfriend, then resurrected in S2 because you cannot have permanent consequences. I think I'd been trying to suppress that though. Let's say 2 seasons of him being a character, and that's the sum total of what I can remember.

[InsaneCommander]

2 hours ago, majestic said:

Star Dreck: The adventures of Therapy Posts on the Obsidian Forum, part 4.

Burnham crying counter: 1:3.

As I sit here and prepare, my breathing is deep and relaxed. There is no emotion, there is peace. Wait, wrong franchise. Let me try that again. In accepting the inevitable, one finds peace.

  Reveal hidden contents

Episode begins with a very helpful reminder that Gray is now an actual, if slightly artificial person. I wonder if they're going to reference Data's "I'm fully functional." at some point. I guess Gray isn't going to be programmed for multiple techniques, at least. What a wonderful mental reminder that TNG didn't start out as the best of Trek either. Unlike this Discovery tripe though, it grew into geat Trek eventually.

What's wrong with your faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace?

It's never a good sign when you pause at a random alien and wonder how they got into their uniform with that head. Seriously. There's no way she put on that uniform BEFORE she put on the head. Michael's opening narration tells us that the stress is taking its toll on the Discovery crew. You know, for the first time in three seasons now they're actually doing nothing, having spent a week in orbit over Vulcan (imagine reading Ni'Var when I talk about Vulcan, because f*ck that namechange).

What stress? The weird anomaly that's threatning to gobble up the entire galaxy that currently isn't en route to any inhabited planet? That's getting to me to, to be honest. This is on the same level of ridiculous as Kirk's Beyond Crap monologue about getting old. Old. Get that guys, Chris Pine is feeling old in Star Trek: Beyond, at the age of 25 or something. Yeah, never mind. Michael mandated the crew get downtime.

Wowzers. Not bad Michael. When do I get some downtime from watching this? Will there be a winter break? Probably not with my luck. Admiral Vance has a stomach bug - a literal one, more or less, an alien worm parasite - and is undergoing Ivermectin therapy, so he can't attend some diplomatic shindig on Vulcan, and they ask Burnham to replace him. Does the entire Federation consist of the crew of the Discovery? Burnham, who ever so helpfully messed up first contact with King Batman and his Robins in the first episode?

To her credit, Burnham doesn't want to go, but Saru insists the Federation president wasn't making a suggestion.

Tilly talks to Culber about her mission with the Kyabuu Babaya last week, and says she tried this absolute candor stuff with herself (for anyone readon who hasn't followed Picard or parts of Discovery, the Kumquat Millers are always totally honest). Here's what I thought she was going to say:

"I know I'm just the body positivity token on the crew, but I kind of want more, or I'll just leave."

OR

"I realize I'm on the fast track to metabolic syndrome, can we do something about that, doctor?"

But nope. She's talking about not being certain that she wants command of a starship in the future, and Culber sends her on a team building excerise with the new Starfleet Academy cadets. I wonder if he means all of the sixteen cadets from the first episode, or just some?

Cut to Gray who now rocks the worst mullet since the 80ies. Adira needs to go on that teambuilding excercise too. That's going to be fun. Adira and Tilly, my favorite crewmembers. There was a time when Tilly was, along with Saru, the only one on this show to give it her best, but that seems to have disappeared.

Wake me up, before you go-go!

Don't leave me hanging on like a yo-yo!

Wham! has a painful talk about making new acquaintences and Adira complains about being sent away when the Tal symbiote is older than the burn.

Dr. Woody Allen, played by David Cronenberg, is really unhappy to get Tilly and Adira from Discovery. I guess he ain't touching these two, is he? Yes, this is rock bottom, I think. That joke is really, really bad. Like, almost as bad as this show.

Just get out of my sight, I asked for young girls. PRETTY young girls, not these two.

Star Trek is back to using props and prosthetics that Paramount was using for some other production to cut down costs. Adira is assigned to a Zombie-Rastafari alien, unamed slasher victim cadet and something that looks like a leftover from some Orion Frankenstein remake project.

Ever since I died, me ganja mon, it ain't workin' no more.

I can't help it, Tilly does not look well.

Listen here, Tilly, I had metabolic syndrome myself. Waking up sick to the point of throwing up, being lethargic all the time, the works. Have you checked your blood sugar levels recently?

Wow. The shuttle they're on for the excerise is hit by a "rogue gamma ray burst" and is going down. Cadet Slasher victim called "Sasha" says she's a trained pilot and wants to take over helm, but Tilly is like "No, get back to your post!", neatly spoiling that their crash is just going to be the actual excercise, not that lame ass planetary survey they were supposed to do. As if being hit by an unexpected gamma ray burst in a shuttle and surviving isn't clue enough. It smashed the shuttle hard enough to knock it off course and fry the engines, there's no way anyone inside survived being exposed to high energy gamma rays. 

Ganja-Mon is called Gorev and has small tusks. Some creative naming going on here. Indian Frankenstein is called Rajesh. No, wait, that's a racist stereotype. It's Cadet Harral, I think, and the actor playing him is simply a painted white bread that in the wrong light looks like he is in brown face. It's green, really, but... oh boy. This episode just keeps on giving. Random shuttle pilot is apparently dead.

Hah, Brown-Green!Face Rajesh figured out that their crash is part of the excercise and begins to chill. Good Lord my man, who gave you that line to say? Rajesh and Ganja-Mon trip over each other and almost get into a fist fight. Yeah. Come on, play the Scott Pilgrim boss battle music and let's have at it!

No?

Nope.

Tilly shuts that down. Oh my, Tilly. You'll end up being back to the fast track towards command at the end of the episode, huh? Yikes, the cadets get first names. Val "Slasher Victim" Sasha, Taahz Gorev (Me Taahz, mon. Pleased to meet cha.) and... Harral, Orion. No last name, or first name, apparently, but time enough to complain that he's the victim of racist stereotypes against Orions. No sh*t Rajesh. Seriously, am I the only one that noticed that in this makeup and with that hairdo Harral looks like Rajesh the unhelpful Callcenter Agent?

International iRabbit helpline, I'm Rajesh, I'll be your contact today. Thank you for purchasing the iRabbit, how may I help you?

We're cutting back to Vulcan, where undoubtedly a diplomatic crisis is waiting for Burnham and Saru to fix before Vulcan rejoins the Federation. Let's see what it is. Wow. Vulcan wants an exit clause to be able to withdraw from the Federation should the need arise. That's it? That's... that's... what the writers came up with? Holy crap. President Rillak is having none of this. Unconditional leaving is out of the question. Why? Because it's a dangerous precedent and weakens the Federation.

Now Booker is having a therapy session with Culber. I like how everyone on the Discovery needs a shrink. That's certainly going to raise awareness, just like having these two non-starter non-binary types as role models for a whole new generation of Star Trek fans. Honestly, with this being so bad, all this does is leave itself wide open for attack. We have a saying here: Das Gegenteil von gut ist gut gemeint. It's similar to "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." but more literally translated means the opposite of well done is well meant. The full quote, allegedly said by Kurt Tucholsky, is (literally translated): The opposite of good isn't evil, but 'meant well'.

I think that applies to this pile of manure pretty much. Star Trek was always some of the wokest stuff on the air, even when the term woke wasn't coined yet (for anything but the past tense of wake, I mean). This is just painful, and not helpful. Ugh.

Back to the negotiations, Federation president Rillak is afraid to show weakness. Weakness? Really? Is that what we're going with? Weakness in the face of what? A random anomaly? Hey president, do you know more than we do? Hey? Hello?

Oh noes, Tilly and her shuttle crashed on the planet of the rocket worms. Hey, is this really not a part of the exercise? I mean, they can't be that dumb. Wait, what did I just say? Never mind. The rocket worms are attracted to electromagnetic signatures, and Tilly gasps: THAT'S ALL OUR EQUIPMENT! Ganja-Mon wants to shoot them. Hey pot brain, if that thing tracks energy, then have fun playing  thumper on Arrakis. Where are you from, really? Planet Moron?

Back at the diplomatic crisis, Vulcan president What'sherface tells Saru that she needs the Federation to be accountable in the face of this anomaly. What? Is the Federation going to do something to the anomaly that will make it go hurtling towards Vulcan? Has someone time-travelled here?

Okay, Adira gets stuck in some ice-quicksand and they drag her out of it. The rocket worms that look more like the final alien form from Evolution are approaching fast. Ganja-Mon and Rajesh are having a racist duke-out, and Tilly talks around. They're talking, for like minutes, in the middle of a dangerous lightning storm that when it strikes the ground, apparently creates quick-ice pits that freeze anyone in place. Like that ice stuff last season, when Billy the Kid talked with Tilly. Tilly should know that stuff and freak out now.

Ganja-Mon is accusing Rajesh of being a colonial overlord. Good grief. Hey knucklehead, India was a colony too.

So Burnham propses an independent oversight committee as a solution to this diplomatic problem and promptly nominates herself to be on it. A citizen of Vulcan (yeah Michael, a thousand years ago, do you think your citizenship is still valid?) and a Starfleet officer. I guess that's one way to be independent. Just be on both sides at once.

Tilly nominates herself to go on a run and distract the creature so the others can call the ship that's supposed to come pick them up. Wow. Yeah, Tilly, I don't know how to tell you this, but Adira wants to run, and I'm pretty sure Adira is a lot quicker than you are. But, hey, maybe this is really "real" and Tilly gets eaten by the creature. Nope, they end up phasering it a bit, then they all get beamed up. In the next scene, Adira and the cadets are all laughing and joking around, and Tilly has a huge grin on her face while Woody Allen comes back and tells them that the loss of the shuttle pilot really is a tragedy.

Last couple of episodes Tilly lost it when people died that she spent less time with. Man show, really? Also, what the hell, you're telling me that rogue gamma burst was meant seriously?

Woody Allen offers Tilly a place as instructor at the Academy. Please Tilly, take him up on it. PLEASE.

Book has some more therapy with Culber, and Tilly... Tilly takes the position at the Academy! Yay! Finally. Please make it so the Academy isn't a regular location now. PLEASE. PLEASE. Now you only need to do away with Michael, Adira, uhm, that Cyborg pilot, the... well, basically everyone except Saru, Culber and maybe Stamets.

Yeah, that's not going to happen, is it?

Tilly is hugging everyone goodbye to a depressing piece of trashy violin music. Android!Mullet gives Adira a Discovery snow globe with "ALL IS POSSIBLE" written on it. A title drop for the episode. Man, someone spent time creating that prop for one of the people on the writing staff to feel really clever about themselves now.

Burnham crying counter unchanged. I think they're doing this on purpose. I feel like that last scene is one where pre-season-four Michael would have cried. Copiously.

[Lexx]

This big head alien is so lol. Not only does the uniform makes no sense, but the actual bodytype is unbelievable as well. You know what I mean.. with a head like that, no way in hell would the creature have a super normal humanoid body.

[majestic]

  

I planned on finishing the second Nanoha movie tonight, but it looks like I'll make a second overly long post about Star Trek: Discovery instead. That should be slightly more fun, at least. Trigger warning, I might add the occasional swear word or two, because this really grinds my gears.

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Real talk: I think majestic has proved to me that unless I actually care about a show, you can literally say the entire plot of an episode and I will not be able to mentally connect the dots from one paragraph to the next, because I simply cannot make my brain simply retain any information about a show that I care absolutely not at all about. Actually, having even more detail probably has the opposite intended effect - if it was just one or two paragraphs concerning the most outrageous bits, I could probably handle and make sense of that...but when you have 20 paragraphs about something I already ejected from my brain between now and the last time you talked about an episode, I lose the thread quite quickly. I have the bad brain.

I am very sorry if you got the idea that this isn't just a collection of the most egregious stuff that happened in this episode. The paragraphs from the beginning of the spoiler to that picture of Wham! is actually what happens before the opening credits. If I'd comment on the entire episode - and there'd be plenty more to comment on, really - then I'd probably still sit here and the episode would not be over. I left out most of the ridiculous phaser battle the cadets have with the Evolution aliens, for instance, and most of the diplomatic negotiations, and some moments between the president of Ni'Var and Saru, among other things.

@Zoraptor has the right of it, though. These characters are so forgettable that I actually had to go and look up who killed Culber in the first season, because I completely forgot that Klingon spy in human form was actually a thing, and that he was involved with Burnham for a while. We're talking about a show where the bridge crew got full names in the second season because they had a character death planned and realized that it would not work so well if nobody had actual names.

Can't for the life of me remember the name of the Cyborg navigator woman. It's baffling. I know I wrote about her in a post I made about the third season. I posted a picture of her, and wrote "They all got names last season, and hers is..." but after that my mind is a total blank.

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Do I dare ask what this even means in the context which you said it?

Ever since the first season, Star Trek: Discovery had certain elements added to the show that primarily have one goal: To insulate the show from mainstream and nerd mainstream (e.g. The Mary Sue, or Den of Geeks, i.e. the Kotakus of TV) criticism/critics. All these outlets and "progressives" - see, that's the thing, I do consider myself part of that group, but I want nothing to do with that very vocal part, really - just cannot talk about the many, many faults of the show because it's so god damned woke it oozes wokeness out of every orifice. The longer this show goes on, the more that feels like a deliberate troll by Kurtzman. It gets the internet talking about his terrible TV shows, creates clicks, controversies and probably also viewers. He might be a hack fraud writer, but at least he knows how to stir up a hornet's nest.

I also hate myself for regurgitating alt-right criticism of the show, but it is what it is. These absolute morons on YouTube whose videos YouTube continues to suggest to me beause I write posts like this one all have one thing in common though, they say that these shows (i.e. Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Discovery) are bad because woke culture banned "males" from holding "positions of power" in the Star Trek universe. I don't even know where to start, no you f*cks, these shows are bad because they're all written by the same hack fraud that apparently knows enough about CBS to have their balls in a vice if they'd fire him, or whatever the hell else keeps Alex Kurtzman employed. Instead of enabling billionaires to go to space for fun or dumping cars in space, Elon Musk should give Kurtzman a one way trip to the 月 (moon, also used for month). Sorry to the other folks reading this, sort of an inside joke.  

Bad writing is bad. This has nothing to do with these shows being woke, Star Trek has always been like that. Did they miss the African-American woman on the bridge of a (semi-)military starship in the sixties, with a Japanese helmsman and a Russian navigator? This is actually the worst part about these new shows. Not that they're bad, but that they're set up in a way that gives traction to internet trash like The Critical Drinker.

Where was I? Right. Objectively - and as objective as one can get - Star Trek: Discovery is terrible. That's just what it is. It's badly written, it's a disjointed mess more often than not, it doesn't neatly integrate into the Star Trek universe at the point in time it was chosen to play out, and that begins with the basic engine the ship has, and continues with introducing a formerly unknown adoptive sister of Spock's, it makes no sense at the best of times and as an added bonus, nothing about the distances they're talking about and nothing about the science makes sense. That seems like a strange complaint for a soft sci-fi show, but earlier Trek hired science advisors for a reason.

The characters are flat non-entities. The storyline is boring, although that's subjective, and nothing that happens has any lasting consequences like in the good old days of non-serialized storytelling. Except this does have seralized storytelling because TV shows are expected to do that these days.

Nothing of that, really, nothing of that is talked about if you look up some of the articles on the nerd internet magazines. I looked at the Den of Geek review of this episode, they basically wet themselves over how great and balanced it was. What?

So Discovery has this cast that includes Michael Burnham, the woman with the male name, an adopted daughter of Sarek, whose acting talent and character keeps getting praised in spite of the height of her acting being able to cry at will, which she does so often it became a meme. There's a reason for my Burnham crying counter. There's the openly gay couple of Paul Stamets and Dr. Hugh  Culber, who I... honestly don't have anything bad to say about, except for Culber being a complete non-character up until this season when he suddenly gets the role of ship's counsellor and everyone is coming to him for their weekly shrink session. Stamets has more of a character, but comes with the strings attached that he's necessary to operate the drive of the Discovery, a concept that's so utterly stupid that I don't want to talk about it, but it's up there with the worst ideas in sci-fi ever. Second only to the Starchild in Mass Effect 3.

There's Ensing, later Lieutenant, Tilly who is a body positivity token hire, which is really sad because if given decent material, the actress can make things work that really shouldn't. Instead she's running half-marathons on the Discovery and wins. To send a message, I suppose, but who knows. Her work in the mirror universe was actually fantastic. I know I was happy that she got written out in this episode, but her performance was unwatchable recently, and she clearly was uncomfortable on the set (and they put her in that horrible catsuit from last week, I... yeah, I don't even know what to say to that).

Every step of the way there are these characters and elements that were put in there for no other reason than to make the show immune to criticism, and to do some serious virtue signalling. Last season they added Blu del Bario to the roster, playing Adira, a non-binary (like her actor) human girl of 16 who is Discovery's version of Wesely Crusher in that she's a super-genius instantly capable of outsmarting Starfleet's best and brightest. Everyone calls her a "she" on the show until she says she wants to be called they.

That would have been fine, but it didn't end there. Culber and Stamets have an extended dialogue in front of a sleeping Adira where they make sure to use "they" to address them for what feels like 20 times in half as many lines, and they put an incredibly stupid sounding emphasis on the pronouns that made me think they were making fun of the dialogue they were forced to say. I can't even begin to think what Will Cruz thinks of the show. Not of his role, perhaps, but of the show. Oh, by the way, Stamets is played by Anthony Rapp, otherwise probably best known for being the 14-year-old molested by Kevin Spacy. Eh, and his role in Rent. That... piece of sh*t musical thing.

Through some shenanigans Adira sees her dead, and now imaginary former boyfriend, who is played by non-binary transgender actor Ian Alexander. So, let this serve as the background for the actual answer to the question you posed.

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Do I dare ask what this even means in the context which you said it?

Both Adira Tal and Gray Tal (for the record, they're neither married, nor related, Gray Tal is a Trill, and Adira is now carrying his symbiont, even though it was stated by Star Trek canon that Trills symbionts cannot permanently link with humans, but screw canon) are complete non-characters. They're boring. They're badly written. They have the most terrible dialogue, and everything, really everything they say on the show is a thinly veiled metaphor for being non-binary or transitioning.

That's what I mean with not helping. It's so painfully obvious that these actors were just hired to slap some more wokeness onto Discovery to make sure it's keept out of the crossfire of criticism, or at least to give the showrunners the option to push non-favorable critics into the transphobic corner if need be. Well, and to create even more alt-right pushback. This show virtue signals so bad while at the same time being so terrible that it makes the other side's usually dreafully stupid criticism appear valid.

The fourth season now seems to have taken up championing mental health care as the new token pet project, with Culber offering therapy to everyone, and the show trying really, really hard to tell us under how much strain the crew is, while they're doing nothing much, most of the time. Tilly was the worst part up until now, freaking out over two non-characters that died that she didn't even know, after the firs three seasons were raining death and destruction upon the Federation (including a time-travelling version of Skynet, and no, I WISH I WAS KIDDING). In this new episode, she spends more time with the shuttle pilot than the warrior nun that died last episode, but she doesn't even give half a sh*t any more. Probably because she knew she could go looking for a better gig. Or spend some more time with her newborn kid. Or get better, I mean, there's a chance that she wasn't just uncomfortable on the set but that she's really sick.

Which is what I hate it the most for. It just keeps adding these elements that should be treated with more care, and by someone who is not Alex Kurtzman. By anyone else. I don't care. Let Sargon of Akkad write a Discovery episode, it can't be any worse. It really, really, really can't. It's...

GAH. Really, just... GAH.

3 hours ago, Bartimaeus said:

Who is the intended audience of this show anyway? ...Actual aliens, perhaps?

F*ck if I know. It certianly isn't me.

Perhaps its this girl:

Although that's pretty much me whenver I watch an episode of this absolute fustercluck of a show.

1 hour ago, Zoraptor said:

And I have to say, since it reinforces the whole "road to hell.." thing the only thing I actually remembered about Culber is that he's the gay doctor. OK, and that he got killed by Michael's beardy emo cryptohuman S1 boyfriend, then resurrected in S2 because you cannot have permanent consequences. I think I'd been trying to suppress that though. Let's say 2 seasons of him being a character, and that's the sum total of what I can remember.

The worst part about this is that Will Cruz's been a consistently decent actor on the show. He just doesn't get anything worthwhile to do. His therapy sessions aren't badly acted either, they're just terribly written, and in this latest episode he mixed in some Spanish in his usual dialogue. Why? Who knows. Maybe the writers realized they had an actual gay actor with Afro-Puerto Rican descent and went: "Hey, you have untapped virtue signalling potential there, mix in some Spanish! ¿Está bien ahora?"

Edited December 9, 2021 by majestic