[Discovery review starts at 22:06]
Tony and Laurie start off the news with the confusing reports that the stars of the upcoming Kelvin movie may have been unaware that they’re going to be the stars of the 2023 Star Trek movie until AFTER J.J. Abrams’ announcement last week. Then they dig into comments from John de Lancie and Akiva Goldsman at last week’s Star Trek: Picard junket, discussing Q’s needs, the Borg Queen’s role, and Picard’s new-but-it’s-not-a-thing android body—and take a quick look at The Ready Room for more Picard clues—and chat about the new Prodigy toys coming from Playmates.
Then it’s a deep dive into “The Galactic Barrier,” the latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery, which leans heavily into this season’s theme of uncertainty, leading into a Gilligan-inspired theory. They wrap up with a look at Doug Jones winning the very first The Chair award and Noah Averbach-Katz’s Kickstarter project, to be directed by Anthony Rapp.
Links:
Star Trek 2023 Cast Reportedly Surprised By Movie Announcement
Interview: John de Lancie On How The Stakes Are Higher For Q In ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2
Interview: Akiva Goldsman Talks, Q, Guinan, Borg Queen And More For ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Season 2
The Ready Room with clips from Picard season 2
Interview: Akiva Goldsman On ‘Picard’ Going Beyond Season 3, And His Star Trek Anthology Series Idea
Playmates Reveals First Wave Of ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Toys
The land of chocolate (The Simpsons)
‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Theory: The DMA Is Linked To ‘Star Trek: Voyager’
‘Star Trek: Picard’ Finale Sparks Philosophical Fan Debate — Is Picard Still Picard?
Hiatus brain: When your favorite show returns, but you can’t remember a thing [NPR]
Roc Ingersol/Guy Fleegman from Galaxy Quest
Trekbits:
Tony: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Wins Make-Up Guild Award, Doug Jones Honored With Chair Award
Laurie: Type 1 on Kickstarter (Noah Averbach-Katz’s project)
Let us know what you think of the episode in the comments, and let us know which review should come first next week, Discovery or Picard. Which are you going to watch first?
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Is it possible that Picard might continue on as a new show with Seven as the lead character after Season 3? The cast is interesting and seems like they could carry a show without Picard at the center.
They’d have to change the title, of course! :) Yes, I think there will be a spinoff with one or two of the characters when all 3 seasons of Picard are done.
I agree with you that this episode was frustrating. Having saying that; I get it. I think the writers and all of us were in a state of uncertainty (as we are today for another reason) So they put those feelings and ideas into words. Do I like it? No, but I understand it.
Yep, that’s pretty much where I netted out. I get it, but I’m not sure it makes for a great experience as a viewer. And I’m still not sure what it is they have to say about it.
It DOES make sense the studio announced the film without having talked to the actors. I mean, you have watched The Center Seat right? After that you shouldn’t be surprised the studio pulls stuff like that. Also this was for the investors. Of course they would announce it. It’ll never happen though, not by the end of the year.
It doesn’t make sense if you need to negotiate with actors about how much you’re paying them. Bad strategy!
Picard first next week, please 😀
1 for Picard, 0 for Disco so far!
Picard :-)
2 for Picard!
Interesting theory about them not coming back after the finale, it fits with one of the core ideas of Star Trek, a crew going where no one has gone before.
But on the whole this episode was frustrating, it took much too long for them to actually cross the barrier. I was hoping this would be the episode where things turned up a notch regarding 10-C but first contact is still a vague promise for a future episode. The worst thing they could do is have it all wrapped up in the finale so some sort of a cliffhanger is what I´m hoping for.
To be honest, given the season has felt so frustrating, if they leave it on a cliffhanger its going to feel to me anyway like I have wasted 13 hours of my life that I will never get back!
I am hoping for some sort of clean and satisfying conclusion in these final 3 episodes as a ‘reward’ for having watched 10 meandering episodes.
They can redeem the season, but for me, they need to land the finish and give me a definitive conclusion.
Heres hoping!
It’s even more frustrating here in the UK watching in real time on Pluto. Better than nothing, but a pain having to be in front of the TV at 9pm for an hour every Friday.
This season feels structurally like S3’s “The Burn”, in which all is revealed in the last episode. I’m getting a little tired of this season to be honest, which to me promises much but delivers very little story wise. As ever the production qualities are top notch, but it’s a slow train to story telling and I know quite a few folks who have walked away from this series.
OMG… I think I just figured out what’s going on. Those are just my thoughts. I have no inside information whatsoever but looking at last season’s resolution, an innocent, unlikely creature causing havoc in the entire galaxy, this might actualy be the case… again…
Oros is Species 10-C!
The Kayalise is what’s inside the Hyperfield!
He creates his “home”, his paradise, his golden ratio at the expense of others.
Reading his name backwards is Soro… Sorrow… He has caused lots of sorrow…
Major showdown between Book and Tarka… Tarka’s best friend is responsible for helping Oros and therefore causing the destruction of Book’s homeworld…
Part of me hopes I’m wrong. I’m not sure… It would be a decent enough solution for a two-parter but once again not good enough for a season arc…
I’ll say this: I hope there’s more to this Kayalise thing than having it just be what they think it is. Right now, it’s like Dorothy singing “Over the Rainbow” and then stealing a spore drive and a ship and making a superweapon so she can get there, even though she’s never been and just HOPES it’ll be nice.
It feels A LOT like “The Wizard of Oz” to me… If 10-C really turns out to be that single alien behind a smoke-screen, it is literally like Oz… There’s no place like Kayalise…:-)
I have thought about how it could all be linked, although my theory was more along how the hyperfield and DMA may be powering Oros’ dimensional transporter. That all of this was his attempt to go “home.” But yes, Species 10C may not be a species/society at all. It could just be one guy. And The Discovery falling into this dimensional transporter could feed into the Gilligan Hypothesis.
“although my theory was more along how the hyperfield and DMA may be powering Oros’ dimensional transporter.”
That’s another very good theory because only that way it would make sense that Tarka needs so much energy still… Because if Oros had found a way to power the transporter from that puny prison camp, Tarka wouldn’t need the extra energy. Also, this would explain why the DMA only appeared recently…
Oros has Su’Kal written all over him… He may just be a little less innocent…
Guys, well done for giving a positive spin on this episode, and the season in general, because the writing has been poor, the story arc disappointing, the leaving the main characters with nothing to do and ib my opinion that they are going nowhere and we are going to get another anticlimax end to the season.
All the speculation of a reboot of a reboot I think is reading too much into it. This was written in 2020, and they were certainly writing this as the end of the show. The surprising aspect is that they are actually making a 5th season; I imagine it is to give a hand off to new shows because to end on such a low when they are launching the new Paramount Plus across the world would not help the marketing.
this week’s episaodoe is a case in point. You did you best to find good things to say, but there really aren’t any.
Thank you for your feedback. We call it as we see it. Both the pod review and site review this week pointed out the issues with this episode. We do not feel any need to spin anything.
Love the show. Y’all do a great job each week. My recommendation is to review Disco first next week. Save the best for last.
I hate to seem like I’m piling on about Star Trek Discovery but the writing is clunky at best. Also, for some reason the guest characters are far more interesting than the regular crew. (With the exception of Gray. Leave him in a subterranean cave testing the Trill pool water) Vance, Rillak, Kovich, the alien casino boss, are all more interesting than the crew.
That’s 2 for Picard, 1 for Disco. As to the main characters, I think Tilly has been a big loss this season, and everyone else is just getting along too well.
Absolutely Laurie. Tilly is a big loss to the crew dynamic and I miss her being around.
Great Podcast!
I thought the season had 13 episodes and was stunned to learn next week will be the final one. The episode felt like a mid season episode, not a penultimate one. However, I still enjoyed it. I’m predicting a cliff hanger and do believe Disco will get stuck outside the galaxy. If that’s true, then wow, can’t these guys get a break from sacrificing everything just to save the galaxy? I’m hoping I’m wrong but we will see.
I’m watching Disco finale first. I’m on the edge of my seat and need to know what happens to them. Picard comes next.
Also, if Disco is stranded, then they should play the Gilligan’s Island theme song when credits are rolling.
There are 13, the season finale is not this week. 3 episodes to go!
You made my day. There is still a lot of story to tell and for it to be crammed in one just wouldn’t do these characters justice. Thank you for clearing that up.