ValueSubtracted

Y'know, as I typed it I thought, "I should probably fact-check this..."

I don't think that's ever been established - in fact, I don't think we've ever seen humpback whales in Cetacean Ops...

I think that's fair. I think I enjoyed the jokes more than you, but it's a pretty low-calorie episode.

At long last, the episode people have been anticipating/dreading since the preview scene dropped a year ago.

I dunno, I thought it was fine. It signals right from the beginning that we shouldn't take it too seriously, and it maintains that tone through to the end. The comparison that keeps popping into my head is "The Magnificent Ferengi" - transparently ridiculous, but enjoyable if you can get on its level.

The emotional core is the four "Vulcans" revealing their inner secrets because of their transformation. SNW has gone to that well before, but it works well enough. The dance fight was very nicely done.

Not a lot of meat on those bones, but there are worse ways to spend an hour.

I think that was tucked into the SDCC panel, though it was overshadowed by the SNW and SFA stuff.

I would imagine writing what is essentially a radio serial is a unique challenge.

Somebody attended Musk Junior High School...

Not that I think going straight to the source will sway you, but...

Brannon Braga:

It was late, but I was so excited [...] He [Rick Berman] really liked the idea but he had the stroke of genius, 'Make it a Borg babe.'

Jeri Ryan:

I knew exactly what I was in for when I had my first costume fitting. Clearly my character was added to the show for sex appeal, which remains the one way to get attention very quickly. I don't think it's the only way to get viewers to watch strong women, but it worked.

So no, "spandex are very scifi" doesn't hold a lot of water in this case.

Hmm, I don't know about that. It seems less to me like them trying to "match" TOS, and more like a continuation of the trends established on late-period "Voyager"...

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

The Bombers...are not going to be favourites in the LDC or the Banjo Bowl, but they're in "must-win" territory when playing teams in the West.

As much as "Me Too" was supposed to be about ridding the industry of sexual harassment (and worse), it also had knock-on effects in terms of storytelling, cast composition, etc.

I don't think it's controversial to say that "Enterprise" was not terribly progressive by modern standards (or, in my opinion, the standards of the time) when it came to female representation in particular.

the implication is that the Daleks have been pushing things for a lot longer than just 100 years anyway.

Yeah, I'm not convinced that the Daleks' Master Plan actually makes any sense, but I'm prepared to withhold judgment until I've rewatched the big finale.

"Society collapsing into a horrifying regime way more quickly than you'd expect" is actually a bit of an RTD running theme, and...I think history is on his side there, to be honest.