Sad Pterodactyl

...I have no words as to how bad the 3rd season of Strange New Worlds is. I'm 9/10 episodes in and there was (1) episode that was sort of okay. And I'm saying that as someone who defended SNW for quite a while. ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** S3 E1 Hegemony, Part II - Phew, phew. Flashy action movie with far too many unbelievable things (yes, I'm looking at you Erica). At some point action movie style of ignoring injuries is just boring. S3 E2 Wedding Bell Blues - Rhys Darby I love you. But this made no sense whatsoever, and also - yes, let's ignore a woman forced to love someone against her will in favour of *gasps* ex and current boyfriend needing to behave in a civilised manner. S3 E3 Shuttle to Kenfori - Don't use the Z word! Almost good. If not for the fact that making popular tropes into Star Trek episodes feels like ticking off boxes at this point. You know why baseball episode worked in DS9? Because it was personal. Because Sisko loved baseball. It was in character, specific, thought through. This was creatively bankrupt Marvel scriptwriter wondering oh, how about ticking off that box. S3 E4 A Space Adventure Hour - I think you guys (current writers of SNW) actually hate the Original Series. That opening scene was just... mean. Also - Spock, stop kissing women. Or rather. Stop kissing people, period. You do realise that being single and enjoying your life is a thing, right? S3 E5 Through the Lens of Time - I could say that inversed causality was cool, but you know what? At some point Star Trek space became dark, cold and full of death and superstition and I am not impressed. You misunderstood the assignment. S3 E6 The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail - 7/10! This the One! The decent episode! The challenge to Kirk's recklessness! Working together! Forging the relationships that will make up his future bridge! S3 E7 What is Starfleet? - Solid idea, horrible implementation. Episode of importance of high integrity journalists on keeping military in check sounds like a good idea, right? So why the hell did you spend the whole season setting up that the journalist in question is inexperienced, vain, distracted by a pretty face and emotionally compromised...? Has it anything to do with the fact that perhaps you wanted to make sure that... the journalist and not the military is the problem? S3 E8 Four-and-a-Half Vulcans - I liked Doug. S3 E9 Terrarium - Yes! Oh, yes! Let's go! Let's challenge Erica's racism! Classic survival story! A cheeky wink to both Galileo Seven and The Arena! I loved it! ...until the last 5 minutes. I wouldn't be bothered as much if not for the fact that every single episode which is not outright comedy (or rather mockery) is ending badly. Yes, there were sad, poignant ending in TOS. Not every, single one. *** I'll report back after S3 E10. Wish me luck. Also - I need to stop grumbling and start drawing.

Okay. Okay dokey. So, I just watched the first episode of Starfleet Academy and... WHERE HAVE YOU ALL BEEN THE LAST DECADE? Cute Klingon who wants to be a medic? Photonic teen made to be living, walking, talking photonics - organics diplomat? Tall, muscly and broody? Space chases? Knife fights? World building that takes into account 900 hundred years of species intermingling? The banter? The crazy bi energy? Mother - son relationships with the mother figure being a freaking Starfleet captain? (Yes, I love you Mariner and Carol, and all of your adopted children Pike, but still!) Damn.