I…don’t really think this one is all that good?

I’m going to jump straight into something that I forgot to talk about last week: the Ninth Doctor himself. I’ve been trying to put my finger on what sets him apart from the others, and…for me, it’s his goofy aloofness. He’s at once extremely enthusiastic and slightly contemptuous of those around him, with an edge that definitely doesn’t carry forward to his successors. He certainly throws Rose into the deep end in this episode, dropping her far into the future, well after everyone she knows is dead and gone, just in time to (almost) watch her planet get destroyed by the sun.

There are really nice character bits throughout, like Raffalo the plumber and of course Jabe the tree lady. Lady Cassandra certainly is memorable.

The Doctor lets Cassandra dry out until she explodes in the end. Remember kids, the Doctor never does cruel things, and the more recent seasons have ruined everything!

Not the worst episode ever, but hardly the best. It continues to focus on Rose’s journey, and her reaction to exactly what it means to travel through time and space. It also continues to lay out the Doctor’s backstory in small drips.

Edit: Oh, and it’s sort of weird that they didn’t tie the Adherents of the Repeated Meme more directly into the Bad Wolf nonsense.

Trek Movie: Early Review: ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Returns With Added Adventure And Romance For Season 3

For those following along, it’s the season two finale, not the season three premiere.

JAKE: Maybe we’d better go back to the station for help.

NOG: Good idea. Computer, fly us back to the station.

COMPUTER: Please restate command.

JAKE: Computer, disengage autopilot and lay in a course back to the wormhole.

COMPUTER: Enter authorisation code.

It’s clunky, but it sounds like the “autopilot” is what’s keeping them locked in orbit of the planet, and they’re trying to break out of that pattern.

I just clued in that you’re visiting from a Mastodon server. In that case, it’s unfortunately two clicks - first the startrek.website link, then the Gizmodo link that goes to the actual article.

Federation is an imperfect beast sometimes.

If you’re interested in the article, you could try, y’know, reading it.

Edit: I was being a bit of a dumb-dumb.

Like the article says, the early seasons are often given short shrift due to what comes later, but there’s some great stuff in there.

Noel Clarke - scandal noted - is quite good in a pretty thankless role.

BC @ WPG

Wow, that was an interesting one. It was looking like the Bombers had BC’s number up until that fantastic Lions drive at the end of the first half. After that, it felt like anything could happen.

I thought the Bombers’ defensive line was pretty good overall, despite giving up a couple of real big opportunities to the Lions. Streveler was a pleasant surprise - we’d have to see more, but this was a really promising start for him, especially his passing game.

Very unfortunate injuries on both sides - hopefully Oliveira and Rourke are both back in action before too long.

Lastly…any game in which a single is scored is a good one in my books (do not quote me on this).

It’s overshadowed by the road games, but he did rack up two shutouts in the Dallas series.

Exile can be self-imposed. Nothing sinister intended.

Oh, I didn’t think for a second that they were “given”.

They actually got Rick Moranis - he really has come out of his retirement/exile.

Huh. That’s an unexpectedly complicated rights package. I would have expected Disney to have distribution rights to all new franchise series, or at least first-look rights.

Oh, absolutely.

TBH, fans revolt in either direction. We’re all very well-adjusted people.

I have my doubts about them openly overlapping with TOS.

But with the current state of things, I wouldn’t bet on anything one way or another.

I mean, I think the Kurtzman era has been quite successful, but he’s had the job for quite a while now. It’s possible he’ll choose to move on once his contract is up.

But yeah, with Paramount in such a state of upheaval…nothing surprises me any more.

Paramount+ today announced that the fan-favorite original series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been renewed for a fifth and final six-episode season ahead of the third season premiere this summer.

Huh…

Very interesting…and very light on details. Sounds like this won’t see the light of day for a long time. But sure, DW kids’ show, why not?

Disney not being involved is…telling.

Edit: Radio Times has a little more info:

The series will run for 26 episodes in 2027/2028 and a further 26 episodes in 2028/2029.

But just imagine the “Doug Jones walks into things” gag reel…