ValueSubtracted

Yeah, it seems like they're being very selective for some reason.

Hoo boy. Wait until they hear about the rubber ducky...

...Do I even want to ask?

I'd have to double-check, but it IIRC it was the same map we typically see. But maybe that's the "problem" 🙄.

That's a good question. There have been two attempts at targeting younger viewers in recent years, and neither seems to have made enough of an impact to stick around.

And I don't think it's a question of quality - Prodigy and Academy were both quite enjoyable.

I think an important difference is the characters' motivations, though - for Reeger, it's personal, while Ramsey in "Crimson Tide" is merely hawkish and reckless.

It also lays a foundation for his actions to (arguably) come back to bite him in the ass in "Balance of Terror," when (presumably) the same Romulan ship reappears and starts wiping out colonies. I'll leave it up for debate whether this is a good thing.

I’m guessing this episode drawing from old war films, in particular I am getting flavours of submarine hunts, chasing after wakes, and handling big questions of WMDs, the sanity of the chain of command.

Maybe it's just because the writers of the (alleged) next Trek film have been talking about it, but I did think of "Crimson Tide" several times during this one.

A’Sha leaving is fine, I guess, she didn’t feel very present throughout the season anyway.

I can't help but think there's still more to come with her - they haven't dropped her off yet, after all. Something about it seems unfinished, somehow.

A pretty good episode that got a lot more interesting in the final act.

For the most part, it came off as a story that we've seen before, albeit a well-told one. But the reveal that Kirk drugged Reeger in order to make him unfit for commend is a genuinely compelling idea, as is the idea that M'Benga just torpedoed his career to cover it up.

The B-plot was decent, too - it was good to see Uhura do some ass-kicking.

They sure do like to talk about the Klingon War as if it's ancient history when it only ended about five years ago, though.

Until next year.

Quarries.

I actually had no idea who Deidre Hall was

For those who have never seen it, she's been on "Days of Our Lives" for 50(!) years.

The key line is “Space adventures leave little time for humans to deal with their inner struggles”. This line is important because it is wrong.

It's a little odd - I agree that it's the key line of the episode, but I don't think it's necessarily meant to be universally true (though it does reflect Pike's beliefs, or at least his avoidance of dealing with his own stuff [Edit: This is almost universally true of our captains over the years]), and I don't think it's really the point of the episode.

What I took away from it is a meditation on reality and perception - in a way, maybe the key line was actually what Pike said about the details fading, but the memories remaining. I think anyone who has experienced enough loss in their lives would find that pretty impactful.

I was enjoing the soap opera silliness up until that point, but I ended up really respecting the statements they were making through Pike's journey. It takes on an added dimension when you consider where he ends up, living out the rest of his days in a Talosian illusion. I wonder if Juliet will be there...

What the heck, I might as well make this my top-level comment and include some other scattered thoughts:

• Soap operas deserve more respect than they generally get - those people work.

• On that note, it was great to see Marlena herself, Deidre Hall, as the counselor. It's hard to imagine a better choice.

• I'm glad Spock slept through this one - he's hallucinated more than enough this season. And Ethan Peck crushed it as Evil Twin Sybok.

• One thing I do think has been missing this season is connective tissue for the character arcs. I suppose it's been there for La'An, but she's mostly been treading water. It was nice to see her dealing with the fallout of a breakout she initiated, but it still seems fragmented. The same can be said for pretty much everybody else.