Anika and Liz hang out with a cactus. Is it a tribute to the Doctor Who serial “Meglos”? No, we’re talking about episode 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ fourth season, “Human Best Friend”!
- Strange New Worlds has become a show dedicated to pastiches of better media
- How many episodes inspired by Star Trek Las Vegas are too many episodes inspired by Star Trek Las Vegas
- They did it — they finally found a planet even worse than Risa
- Are the gimmicks getting in the way of storytelling?
- On the other hand, it feels like the story is setting La’an up to be the big bad before she is written out of the series
- Kirk, you have a baby. Why are you at a resort? Alone?
- “If you look hard enough, you’ll always find something to be angry about.” Which is a longer way of saying, “Don’t overthink it.”
- Liz is still formulating her thoughts on the depiction of alcohol in SNW
- Congratulations to SNW for discovering queerbaiting
Transcript
(Please note this transcript was generated automatically by Apple Podcasts, and though it was edited by a human, some errors may remain.)
Liz: Welcome to Antimatter Pod, a Star Trek podcast where we discuss fashion, feminism, subtext and subspace hosted by Anika and Liz.
Liz: Today, we’re discussing Star Trek, Strange New Worlds, Season 4, Episode 3, “Human Best Friend”.
Liz: And if you hear a low rumbling in the background, that’s just my next-door neighbor revving his old 1960s truck. He likes to take it out for a drive on Sundays, and it’s a process.
Anika: We’re making it real, kind of background noise.
Liz: And also, I would be embarrassed to go over and be like, hey, do you mind not doing your car because I’m recording my Star Trek podcast? I think, in the interests of my dignity, we’re not going to do that.
Anika: That is very fair.
Liz: Let’s talk about, Dude, Where’s My Shuttle?
Anika: Yeah, I saw that you wrote that in. It’s funny, because when I was doing the Alpha Shift shore leave, I started by assigning them all movies, but then I was like, this is too much thought. So I stopped, but I’m glad we were both on the same level there, same wavelength as this is a silly movie plot. That’s what Strange New Worlds does now, I guess.
Liz: Yeah, we’re just gonna do pastiches of movies. And I liked Dude, Where’s My Car? when it came out, but I wouldn’t say that it was a thought-provoking or intelligent or even particularly funny movie. It was just a way to spend the time.
Anika: I have definitely never seen Dude, Where’s My Car? You will be shocked to learn.
Liz: Oh my gosh. So I really strongly disliked this episode when I watched it for the first time. And your note was that it looked like it was engineered in a lab to annoy me personally, kind of like my “Wedding Bell Blues”. I liked it better the second time around, but only because I went in this time and not expecting anything clever or meaningful. There’s no subtext here. There’s no layer of meaning. It’s just lols.
Anika: Ultimately, this was an entire episode dedicated to making Erica and Scotty friends, which is a choice. I’m not opposed to them being friends. I’m actually thrilled that the tension between them has been resolved this early in the season.
Liz: Oh, God, I know.
Anika: And now they can just be buddies. I was like, oh, okay. And I’m even like, this can be fun, if nothing terrible happens to Erica, which is a very big if, but you never know. She can just be Scotty and Uhura’s background bestie for the rest of Star Trek, that was never quite on screen, but we know she’s there, cheering them both on. And I like that. That’s fun.
So yeah, this episode won me over once I realized that there was literally nothing. The plot was inconsequential and it was entirely character-based. And I was like, okay, I’m into that. Sure. Once I let go of it, having a story.
Liz: Once you released your expectation that Star Trek should be good. And Strange New Worlds is like, that’s not my journey.
Anika: Yeah, exactly. I always write in fan fiction exchanges and stuff, I had this whole thing where I’m like, the plot isn’t really important to me. Just write about characters, messy characters in messy relationships. They could be grocery shopping. I don’t care as long as it’s focused on the characters and relationships. And so I was like, they’re just giving me fan fiction. That’s fine. That’s good. It’s cool.
But it’s definitely not normally how a story is told. It’s a different genre of storytelling. Calling it fan fiction is not a knock in any way. It’s just a very different version of storytelling that I don’t normally see in mainstream Star Trek media.
Liz: Yeah. Yeah. And the reason I like it in fan fiction is because we don’t have space to explore those stories on television. And I just think—
Anika: Exactly.
Liz: If you’re making a television series, one that’s so expensive, you do kind of want to prioritize when you only have 10 episodes a season, when you only have just over 10 episodes left in the entire series.
Anika: I’ve seen a lot of comments online that Strange New Worlds has gone from having one or two gimmick episodes a season to just every episode is a gimmick episode. I think that’s true. I think that they have leaned all the way into that version of storytelling.
On one hand, it’s like, well, when they’re doing that, they’re not doing the weird Marie becomes a statue plot. Maybe inconsequential storytelling about characters is the lane they should stick in, because I enjoyed this more so.
Liz: They definitely can’t do much damage this way.
Anika: Then all of that, there were three episodes that were in the Marie Batel Becomes a Statue plot of last year, and I hated them all. So it’s like, you know what? Maybe this is okay. But it’s not a story, or not telling a story.
Liz: There was an era of The Simpsons, and it’s a very well-regarded era, where it felt like every episode was an homage to a movie. But I think we go into Star Trek with different expectations from The Simpsons.
Anika: This is where I have to say that I also have never watched The Simpsons. I’ve seen a handful of episodes, but it is very much not my thing. So again, no knocks on any of this stuff. I’m just saying it’s not for me, and so I don’t watch. I generally make choices about the television that I’m going to give my attention to.
You know, right now I’m watching Emmy nominated series that I didn’t watch the first time around. And I’m enjoying it and I’m enjoying myself. And I’m giving at least three episodes. That’s my whole, that’s always my thing to each of these things. And I’ve so far finished them all. So it’s like, they are good. And they’re telling a story. So it’s just funny to me. I think that I would watch Strange New Worlds even if I didn’t have the podcast.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: Because I am devoted to Star Trek. But I also know that I haven’t seen every episode of Enterprise. So if there were more than 10, I might not watch all of them. You know, it’s like that. Engagement.
Liz: This really reminded me of that episode of Enterprise where they go to Risa and Hoshi hooks up with a guy and I think Archer meets a lady, but she’s hiding a secret or something. And meanwhile, Trip and Reed get into some shenanigans. They end up tied to a chair, back to back exactly the same way as—
Anika: Yeah. Yeah. So which brings me to my question. How many episodes inspired by Star Trek Las Vegas are too many episodes inspired by Star Trek Las Vegas?
Liz: As someone who has never been to Star Trek Las Vegas, I kind of side-eye the idea that if you’re a real fan, you’ll go to these conventions because it’s just not accessible to everyone. And even if I had the money, it’s not really something I would prioritize. So I’m going to say one episode, you can get away with, two, I feel like Lower Decks did a Las Vegas episode as well. They have all— And I’m just remembering.
Anika: Legitimately, Lower Decks did one. As you just said, Enterprise did one. Deep Space Nine did one or two, or kind of like all of Deep Space Nine has a vibe. Picard did one. There are different versions of this idea of, we go to a resort planet, and it’s not Disneyland Resort. It’s Las Vegas Resort. You know what I mean?
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: It’s like they have the bright lights and they have the— There was literally gambling machines in this episode, and everybody’s drunk and everybody’s crazy, and it’s fine. It’s just, it’s weird. That’s like, where are the— I go to a beach resort. It seems weird to me that this is the only version of “Shore Leave”.
Liz: It’s like, it’s always Vegas and never the White Lotus. Yeah.
Anika: Why is that?
Liz: Yeah. I remember way back in season three of The Next Generation, the pitch for Risa was, it’s Club Med, and I looked up Club Med and I was like, oh, this is a really bland cookie-cutter resort. Why would you travel across the galaxy to go here? It’s not what I look for in a vacation.
Anika: In fairness to “Captain’s Holiday”, he goes on his Indiana Jones adventure. He does not get drunk and get out. Picard didn’t have the same adventure. And so that’s good. Maybe if it was more than just Picard, maybe it all would have happened. Yeah.
Liz: I don’t know.
Anika: It’s fine. It’s fine. Because I have been to Star Trek Las Vegas, it legitimately feels like branding. It feels like we are trying to get people to go to Star Trek Las Vegas. Even though Paramount doesn’t run it, they have a license with Creation, but it’s not like they get money for people going there or anything. But it still feels like this weird wink. It’s like a wink to the fans.
Liz: Hey guys. Yeah. I think that’s it. And truly this episode captured for me, the feeling of being the only sober person at a party full of really annoying drunk people.
Anika: That’s very fair. I mean, okay. Let’s start with, I would never go to this planet. Oh my God, no.
Liz: No.
Anika: I cannot imagine enjoying this planet.
Liz: I like to have a drink, but just constantly feeling inebriated and making bad choices, and never having the bit where you get a full night’s sleep, and then you wake up and have a really hot shower and a big fatty breakfast to chase the end of the hangover away. That just sounds dreary.
Anika: It sounds so weird. It sounds so, yes, extremely stressful. I mean, just the disclaimer joke upset me on multiple levels. Because the beginning of the episode is Una telling Pike for the second time in three episodes that the crew desperately needs a break and he needs to stop it, which is good for office serving.
Anika: And so I wrote this down: April should have forced the promotion on Pike, because clearly he is not in the right headspace for this job and he’s not being a good captain. He was in charge of a whole ship. He should be promoted into being a bad admiral, you know? So he could be like the Commodore who does mismanagement at that level. But the captains would have the ability to counter it for their actual crew. So that’s what I came up with.
But I started writing under that bullet point. Another bullet point was, then Una could be promoted to captain and Kirk could be her first officer, which would give him a reason to be on the show all the time.
Liz: I would love that.
Anika: However, Una’s decision to send them to this planet, I was like, maybe I don’t trust her to be captain. I was like, maybe, maybe no.
Liz: So you went to the premiere in New York this week, and Akiva Goldsman said something fascinating. He said that Pike’s leadership style is his leadership style as a showrunner. I have not been able to stop thinking about this because I immediately thought, oh, that makes so much sense because the collaboration and the not really having a firm vision of your own and being really open to everyone else’s, that can make a really good showrunner. I’ve heard that he’s great to work with and people like working with him.
Anika: I can report that everyone on that stage, clearly this is one of the best jobs they’ve ever had in terms of that level of collaboration on their character and what they’re doing, and the story they’re telling, and they feel very respected.
Liz: Yeah, and that’s amazing.
Anika: As performers.
Liz: It’s a terrible leadership style for, I’ve got to say, any non-creative job. I’ve said this before, but I would not want Pike as my manager in a retail environment. I worked in retail for many years, didn’t love it, but I was good at it.
It also makes me wonder, does Akiva look at this plot line about his crew being overworked, and tired, and burned out, and then does he ever think back to the strikes that happened a couple of years ago? They were kind of a big deal.
Anika: It’s actually very interesting. This idea of Pike is using work to avoid his feelings. That’s a very valid reaction.
Liz: Oh yeah, it’s classic Star Trek Captain.
Anika: Right. Yeah, classic Star Trek Captain. And then Una is telling him that he, which is also very classic Star Trek, there always is the First Officer or the Doctor are both telling the Captain, you need to take a break. It’s not good for you and it’s not good for everyone else. That happens constantly. And I can even imagine it being true in these types of environments that—
Liz: Oh yeah.
Anika: The Captain has expectations of themself. So they have expectations of the crew that are based on that and don’t realize that not everybody is at the same level, especially when you’re starting out, like when you’re a cadet or an ensign. You see it in academia all the time. “I work 60 hours a week, and so everybody should work 60 hours a week.” And it’s like—
Liz: Yeah, yeah.
Anika: Is that really a fair expectation?
Liz: No, and historically the thing with specifically Star Trek captains, they’ll be like, I overwork myself so that I don’t have to overwork my crew. I want my crew to be well rested. Oh no, that couldn’t be me. I’m built different. And then the chief medical officer or the first officer has to force them to take vacation.
Anika: So Anson said that one of the things that he really loves about Pike is that, or that he feels that he’s bringing to Pike and they’re building this story, is that Pike will, if someone on his crew comes to him with a problem, he will make it his priority.
Liz: Mm-hmm. Sure.
Anika: Again, this is very interesting, as when you see it from this perspective, what of the story that they’re trying to tell and the story that I’m getting from it don’t necessarily match up all the way. But now looking back with that lens, I’m like, oh, okay, so that’s why this happened and that’s why this happened. I get it, I get what they’re going for, but the overlay of reality makes it questionable. I need to have that information in order to see it. It’s not coming through all the way in the storytelling. I think part of that is the gimmicks. That’s getting in the way.
Liz: There is a lot happening in this episode, and it signifies very little. There is no subtext here. There’s no underlayer of story. Yes, we have the conflict between Erica and Scotty, and how they’re more alike than different, but they literally have a conversation about it. Explaining, they sit down and go, this is my backstory, and this is why I am the way I am. Yes, I know.
Anika: They lay it all out again. That’s what you do in fan fiction. So you have conversations. Yes.
Liz: If you want someone to fall in love with a new character that you’ve created, you need to build them up piece by piece. You can’t just have them walk in and go, hello crew, this is my tragic backstory. This is why I am the way I am.
Anika: Exactly. Exactly.
Liz: I don’t think that should be how it is in Star Trek itself either. We joke a lot about how Discovery has the bit where everything comes to a screeching halt to explain the character’s tragic backstory.
Anika: Yes, why this is important in this moment.
Liz: Yes, but I feel like even Discovery did it better than Strange New Worlds.
Anika: Yeah, I mean, it is funny because they do have that conversation while they’re literally the only people who know there’s a crisis. Yeah. So it is the same issue, you know, doubled. But, I mean, in fairness to them, they thought they were on vacation, which is the time. It is actually the correct time to go on their journey, as Uhura would say, and have these conversations and come to an understanding. It’s just there’s also a crisis going on. Which, and without the crisis, there’s literally no plot, so.
Liz: No, no. I really did enjoy the Scotty and Ortegas stuff. I think they make a good pair. Especially watching for the second time, I could just really appreciate how great their comic timing and their comic chemistry is. Yes.
Anika: I enjoyed watching this episode. I was iffy on the beginning, but once we got into a rhythm, and different from “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans”, where it was obviously a farce, but I couldn’t let it go that it was also offensive. It was not too offensive, and so I was able to just enjoy the comedy of it, the broad comedy that was happening.
Liz: Yeah. I think the comedy was too broad for me, and because I wasn’t fully engaged, I kept looking at stuff like the set design and going, wow, this luxury hotel is so cheap.
Anika: Everyone, if you want to enjoy this, don’t look at the set at all, because it is poor. It’s obvious what each one, I was like, that’s this and that’s this. I could see all of the normal enterprise sets behind the sets that they were showing. Then yes, it was very cheap and very half-assed, I guess is the best way to put it.
Liz: It looks like a three-star hotel.
Anika: I guess on one hand, on a meta level as well, everyone’s drunk as soon as they land, so I guess it doesn’t really, they could have a garbage heap, but it would probably be fine. They can get away with it.
But Uhura’s dance party behind her, it was such an obvious, we don’t want to show any of this, and so we’re going to keep you guys in the corridor, and we’re going to just have this craziness happening, you have to use your imagination. And I was so distracted by using my imagination for whatever was happening behind Uhura, that I had to stop and go back to see what was actually being said.
Liz: But I also feel like the entire costume budget went into Scotty’s shirt, which is amazing, and Uhura’s dress, which we didn’t even get a great view of.
Anika: Right, which we never actually fully saw. And yeah, and Scotty’s shirt, which ended up being a plot point. So that was fun. I have thematic problems with La’an’s storyline, but that was one of my favorite parts, her teaching the bad guys how to be bad guys, and then they came back. I just wish, I would like to swap La’an and Una, and I think that would fix most of my problems with what was going on in La’an’s storyline. I really hate that La’an is just constantly violent all the time, that whenever she is not herself, she is the most violent version of herself. I think that’s a problem. I don’t like it.
Liz: That’s really what I take away from this episode, this ongoing problem of La’an, and I can’t decide if this means she’s going to be the big bad or if we’re supposed to feel bad for her.
Anika: Yeah, I can’t even tell where it’s going.
Liz: Because it feels like she’s being written out.
Anika: Yes, it definitely feels like she’s being written out, and it’s definitely going nowhere good. But as you say, I can’t tell how I’m supposed to feel about it. At all. Like I said, I would switch her and Una so she could be doing karaoke, which we know she’s good at, or give her some subplot where she gets to dance, because we also know she’s good at that. We have seen in two other episodes that it’s her secret passion. So why are we not using these things? If she gets super drunk, why did she become more violent instead of leaning into fun? Where is the fun for La’an?
Liz: Well, you see, her genes are evil.
Anika: It doesn’t matter. We’re talking about her neuroscience and her dopamine and serotonin levels. It’s just very frustrating to me. And I think I just liked that La’an came to Christine’s, speaking of ridiculous plots, we will get to Christine in a moment, but I liked that La’an came to Christine’s defense because I really enjoy their friendship, but Pike could have gotten Christine’s plot and Una could come to Pike’s defense and could get a tattoo and La’an could do karaoke and I would feel better about it as a whole. Should I go into Christine now or do you think we’re safe as is?
Liz: There’s not really much to say. So yes, once again, Christine has a tiny role.
Anika: Yes, Christine has a tiny role and it is swindling and beating up on the Golden Girls. That’s her plot. She goes to bingo and she tries to win bingo against a bunch of senior citizens. So none of that makes sense for her or the story that they’re not telling. I was like, okay, I got, I can’t let this just happen. I can’t accept that Christine gets drunk and decides to swindle grandmas. No, I refuse to believe.
So I decided that Christine was raised by her grandmother from a young age, went to help out at Bingo. And most of her grandma’s friends were probably, maybe they had dementia, maybe their grandkids didn’t come around and spend time with them enough. So she was the kid who got to be everybody’s grandkids. And they taught her how to win at Bingo and how to swindle and all these kinds of things.
This is why she’s a caretaker and a nurse, because she understands that just seeing people and giving and paying attention to them from that very specific caretaking nurse level is, but also she wants to be a biochemist because she wants to save everyone from dementia and all of the terrible things that happen to you when you age.
Liz: I like that. I have to admit that I didn’t get the idea that she was swindling them. I thought she was just ultra-competitive, because we know that she is a hugely competitive person.
Anika: She was ultra-competitive, but I guess swindling might be the wrong word for it. But yeah, she was winning and she was lording it over them.
Liz: She was definitely not a gracious winner.
Anika: It’s just weird. I mean, there was the one, the head grandma definitely threatened her, which is what started the whole rumble with La’an. And that felt like she thought that she was cheating in some way or that something was going on to me. Yeah.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: You know, again, everyone, this is a 45 second scene. I spent more time thinking about this than they spent shooting, writing and post-production.
Liz: So I mean, yes, but that’s what we’re here for. That’s our job.
Anika: I know that I overthought this, but I was like, I can’t handle this. And so I just decided that she had an affinity for older—
Liz: I really like this backstory you’ve come up with. It reminded me, my grandmother played Lawn Bowls and she was super competitive. She was a really aggressive player. And Lawn Bowls, I don’t know if you have that in America, but it’s not an aggressive game. It’s beloved of little old people because it’s so easy to play. But my Nana, she played hard. And when she died, her old team came to her funeral and they formed an honor guard.
Anika: That’s so sweet.
Liz: It was genuinely amazing. And sometimes I think, maybe I should take up Lawn Bowls.
Anika: Delightful. I think it’s delightful. I agree that it is absolutely a character for Christine to be competitive. And it wasn’t offensive in any way. It was just so random and strange. And it was almost like, you know, at the very beginning of the episode, when Una’s going around the room, that is of course the bar, because she was pointing out that they don’t relax while being in the ship bar that they all spend all their free time in. Just pointing that out.
So she’s going around the room and she was like, yo, Joseph’s even more stressed than you are. And I don’t even know what’s going on with Christine. And she, a glass breaks in her hand. Yeah. Because she’s so, and I was like, interesting. And it was like they made it so that she has the least sexy plot line on the resort planet, on the Las Vegas resort planet. And I don’t know. It felt like they did that on purpose in some way.
Liz: It almost feels like now that she has dated and broken up with Spock, she’s being taken off the young woman part of the board and she’s being moved into old lady.
Anika: Yeah. There’s some kind of weird background stuff going on.
Liz: Sort of setting up for her role in TOS as the tragic old maid.
Anika: It’s just strange. That’s a strange thing going on over there. But it would be great if she had La’an’s plot because of that breaking the glass thing. If she was actively fighting it out, and it would also be great for La’an and Christine, because if Christine leaned into her inner La’an, that would be an interesting thing.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: I spent way too much time moving people around into the different plots because I just felt like there’s a better version of the episode where someone other than La’an was in that plot.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: Again, it’s just delightful and I liked it. Didn’t want it to be La’an’s.
Liz: Una taking her natural push for excellence and applying it to these criminals. PS, why are there criminals on this resort where everyone’s drunk? Are the criminals also drunk? It just seems like a bad idea.
Anika: I assumed that everything that happened was, the criminals, they were just also at the resort. They weren’t, they were criminals at a resort. They were on vacation at crime or whatever. And the grannies, everybody who was there was on vacation and they were mixing it up all together.
Liz: That’s so sad, you know, if I’m a criminal and I’m going on vacation, I would have a proper vacation. I don’t want to be stuck doing crime all the time.
Anika: I mean, it says it, let’s not think too much about any of it.
Liz: I mean, I think I’ve already thought about it too much.
Anika: They had to have been all so drunk.
Liz: Yeah. Yeah. The subplot that I really enjoyed was Spock. Not so much the Kirk stuff. I have questions. Jim, why are you there? You have a baby. But everything with Spock being so deeply impaired and it being completely imperceptible to everyone else. But then the stuff with the cactuses, the plants, oh my god. The first time I watched it, I was like, I hate this. This is terrible. And then I watched it the second time and I was like, this is the most hilarious thing in the world.
Anika: It is probably my favorite joke in the entire episode is when he says, but just so you know, you’re still plants and you see, and then the plant moves off the screen and it makes this clunking noise. I laughed so hard. That was so funny to me because we were seeing it from Spock’s perspective and his perspective. Was it the plant was in fact walking, but it couldn’t walk because it didn’t have legs.
Liz: It was so good. Also, there is an extremely not very good Doctor Who serial called “Meglos”, where the villain is an interstellar overlord. His name is Meglos, but he’s a cactus. Literally, the prop is a cactus in a pot and they just move the plant about a bit and someone does the voice. And I was like, this is for me. This is for me specifically.
Anika: It was so funny. Okay. And yes, I loved that Spock was like, I’m so sorry that it’s so messy and I’m so sorry that I’m so, you know, and I can’t focus on anything. And he was so flustered. It was like Spock, you’re literally exactly the same. And I feel like I’ve seen his quarters more messy than that hotel room was. Yes. It was amazing.
And, okay, so the Kirk stuff, if we can remove the fact that Kirk0 who, I am pretty sure is on paternity leave and he’s deciding to spend his paternity leave at a pleasure resort by himself.
Liz: I just got to say, I forgot that Kirk had a baby. And I think maybe they did too.
Anika: This cannot be more than weeks after we saw Sam Kirk, and Jim had an infant. And I know he was having a rough time and he was sad. And so maybe he went to the pleasure planet to cheer himself up, but that doesn’t make it better. That doesn’t, but we have, but if we divorce that, if we just say, it’s fine. Carol is refusing to answer his calls. And so he couldn’t do anything else. He can’t go back to work for reasons.
Liz: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Anika: So he went on vacation and he was bummed about being on vacation by himself. He was just going to, you know, find some two cat girls to have sex with or whatever, like in the movie, but instead he found Spock. And so he decided to spend the weekend with Spock.
Liz: Yeah. Yeah.
Anika: I don’t hate it. I hate it for some, I hate it for the Carol Marcus reasons and I hate it for the queer baiting reasons. But if we divorce everything bad from it, so if we have many caveats, the actual—
Liz: If we separate this from literally everything we know.
Anika: Yes. If we separate it from everything we know, it’s a cute Spock and Kirk bond and Kirk plays along with Spock’s delusion up until the point where he doesn’t, and then proves that he really is his human best friend because he will keep all his secrets and though that time matters to him as much as it matters to Spock. So again, if we divorce it from everything.
Liz: Yeah. I do think it’s funny that Spock confided everything about his life to Jim except who his parents are and his sister and literally everything about himself.
Anika: Anything personal? Yeah. I mean, we don’t know what was actually said. Maybe Kirk really is super good at keeping secrets and just acts like he didn’t know all that stuff for the entire rest of their relationship. Liz, I have three words to help you through this. Are you ready?
Liz: Yes.
Anika: Don’t overthink it.
Liz: Wow. What about “if you look hard enough, you’ll always find something to be angry about”?
Anika: That’s more than three words.
Liz: I know. I know. But that’s what the guy says. And I was like, I feel like this is targeted at me specifically.
Anika: And I also think it is the same advice. It is the same advice. This series is telling us, you and I, Star Trek podcasters, to divorce everything we don’t like and focus on what we do, and then it’ll be fine.
Liz: Yeah. Maybe we should shut up and smile more. So…
Anyway, the whole thing with Pike and the face tattoo, deeply embarrassing. Also, an ethical tattooist would not take on a drunk person as a client. I’m just saying.
Anika: Well, they’re drunk too. No one on this planet is… They give… I’m sure that you’re writing off your ethics in the fine print.
Liz: Yeah. Yeah. I guess you can’t be sued because there’s a disclaimer, but…
Anika: I know I said that someone else could get the tattoo plot, so Una could come to Pike’s rescue. And I think that would make more sense in terms of who the people are. But I actually only want Pike to get this tattoo plot. He is the correct person for it. The horse tattoo.
Liz: Oh, my God. It’s not even a good tattoo.
Anika: Pike’s entire personality has been dwindled down to horses.
Liz: You put the Ken quote here. “When I found out the patriarchy wasn’t about horses, I sort of lost interest.” That’s Pike.
Anika: That’s Pike! Pike is literally Ken, and this isn’t even the first episode we’ve said that. No! I’m sorry, that movie was huge. They’re doing it on purpose. It’s just the way it is at this point.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: Pike’s entire personality is horses, and he is Ken. His hair doesn’t move. He doesn’t care about good leadership. He likes the attention and he likes getting to be with people and getting to be told he’s right. In this very episode, he gives a speech that he cares so little about, that he tattooed it to his fingers to remind himself to give it.
It’s all empty. It’s very empty. If there’s no money behind anything that he says or does, and he wins, he’s living in his Mojo Dojo Casa House, whatever it is. He’s living in his happy, perfect world. And again, I like Pike better when he’s just not trying. Or when he’s not Pike. So it’s fine. It’s fine. But his face tattoo was terrible. His horse tattoo was terrible, but also hilarious. And just the fact that they have all agreed, the writers room has just decided that Pike’s entire personality is horses.
Liz: He wants to be a cowboy, baby.
Anika: I kind of—
Liz: I know I said that Akiva Goldsman’s leadership style would be good if you were in a creative environment, but I actually think even if I was working with him creatively, I would find that frustrating because I want to tell a story that someone is passionate about.
Anika: It’s funny because Anson also said this exact same thing at San Diego Comic Con this weekend. You know, he said that he’s stopped questioning the writer. I mean, at first when they would say we’re going to do this and he’d be like, are you sure you want to do that? But then I don’t want to agree with that. And so now he stopped. He stopped questioning the creative choices because he thinks that it’s what the audience wants.
Liz: I’m so tired, Anika.
Anika: I don’t know. Again, I think that when the gimmick episodes were three a year season, I mean, I’m going to be very generous and give them three a year season. It was fine. But it has been so far every episode this season.
Liz: It’s a loss.
Anika: And we’re at three, I feel like we’re going to exceed three. Because I already know there’s a puppet.
Liz: Oh my god, the puppet episode.
Anika: And there’s a black and white episode. And I already know things are coming. So this probably doesn’t even count as a gimmick episode, even though it very much so is. People don’t act like this, even drunk.
Liz: No, I’m still sort of formulating my opinions on this, but I do find the depiction of alcohol consumption on Strange New Worlds really interesting because they’re so dependent on it as a storytelling device and a setting, and we’re always in the bar and all of that.
But when I was young, before I actually had the budget to drink alcohol, but I wrote a lot of drunk fic, you know, fic where people get drunk and say ridiculous things and make out. And I kind of, it’s kind of what I thought grownups did from my perspective as a new 18-year-old who couldn’t afford alcohol. And it feels like Strange New Worlds hasn’t really outgrown that.
Anika: It is a weird, it’s a very strange. I would say that I think America as a whole has a weird relationship with alcohol. I think that it’s almost partially cultural.
Liz: That makes sense.
Anika: We’ve discussed before that here in America, you have to be 21 and not 18 to drink. This weird arbitrary decision. That it seems really just set up for, again, puritanical, weird cultural reasons. That you can be forced to join the army and fight in a war. When you’re 18, you can vote when you’re 18. You can drive when you’re 16. You can get a job when you’re 16, but you can’t drink. There are weird lines in that you’re considered an adult. You’re considered a legal adult at 18, but you can’t drink until 21.
That’s just weird. It’s a weird cultural standard that is inexplicable, and it’s also no one waits. It’s almost a rite of passage to get super drunk freshman year of college. It’s expected if there’s something wrong with you.
Liz: Which is super not healthy.
Anika: Which is super not healthy on both sides. You shouldn’t be judging people for their choices, to not drink, and you shouldn’t be expecting people to drink as part of some weird thing. Breaking the law shouldn’t be a thing that you do to prove that you’re cool.
Liz: Yeah, but also why is that the law?
Anika: Why is that the law? It’s more unsafe than safe that way. So there’s just all sorts of weird things about it. You know, that’s my long way of saying, I think that this is what’s underlying the whole Strange New Worlds weird relationship with alcohol and the fact that they’re always drinking in that bar. And yet they need to go to a planet where you literally forcibly can’t be not drunk while you’re on the planet to relax.
They need another level of drunkenness. It’s almost like they acknowledge that drinking is such a part of their day-to-day routine now. In order to be outside their day-to-day routine, they have to go somewhere where it’s higher, further, faster, stronger.
Liz: It just seems really unhealthy.
Anika: It’s just really weird, so I mean, but it’s fine because it’s all healthy, according to Chapel. Super, super good for you, all good, no problems.
Liz: How much date rape is happening on this planet?
Anika: God.
Liz: No one can consent.
Anika: Yeah. Yes. I am in fact relieved that there was no sexual subplot in this episode.
Liz: Oh, yeah.
Anika: Thank God.
Liz: No. This is kind of “The Naked Now” in terms of everyone loses their inhibitions and reveals their true self, but with no sexuality. And normally I would complain, you know, the whole everyone is beautiful and no one is horny of it all. But in this case, I’m just going to call it a win.
Anika: Yeah. Because they realized that they didn’t want to deal with those questions.
Liz: No.
Anika: So the only other weird subplot that we haven’t discussed, Una and M’Benga, they don’t do anything, but Una is singing, and she gets to sing “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” in some unknown language.
Liz: Oh, no. It’s known. Anika, it’s Klingon.
Anika: Are you sure? That was my take as well, but then I was like, it can’t actually be Klingon, right? Because they follow it up by saying, how many Klingon power ballads are there? I was like, this is definitely a real song from real earth.
Liz: I mean, you have not experienced a total eclipse of the heart until you’ve heard it in the original Klingon.
Anika: Okay. So you’re saying that my first take that it was Klingon is the correct take, and … okay.
Liz: I didn’t say it was a good take, but no, I do think that it’s a good take. I assume that the Klingon language nerds will confirm either way in a couple of weeks.
Anika: God.
Liz: Okay.
Anika: Well, I will say that when we got to Una singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in, I guess, Klingon, that was the moment where the switch flipped in my brain and I decided to go with the flow and enjoy the episode because “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is my go-to karaoke song. That is what I always start with.
Liz: I love that. That is so amazing.
Anika: So I was like, oh, that’s what this episode is about. I get it. However, it’s a little disturbing that we had the Jurassic Park reference and Sam Neill died, and now we’ve had the Bonnie Tyler reference and she died. I’m a little scared for the rest of the episodes.
Liz: I’m not saying that Akiva Goldsman is going around murdering beloved performers just to get people talking about the work.
Anika: That’s dark. It’s almost too dark a joke. I mean…
Liz: For the purposes of defamation law, that was a joke.
Anika: The timing is… It’s one of those things where it’s like, this is clearly a coincidence, but it’s the kind of coincidence where you think the universe is winking and laughing at you.
Liz: Yeah, and it’s fine. It’s fine. Don’t overthink it.
Anika: I mean, neither Una nor M’Benga affects the plot in any way.
Liz: No.
Anika: We don’t even talk to Una. She’s just singing karaoke on the planet. We talk to her off the planet, but… And M’Benga is… I think he directs them in one way or another, but he’s just at the bar. He’s doing bar tricks poorly while drunk, and then at the end of the episode, he does bar tricks, quote unquote, well, presumably well sober, but maybe well drunk, but it is so blatantly obvious that it’s not him. And it’s painful to watch. Painful.
Liz: I was like, is this meant to be part of the joke?
Anika: Right. I was like, can we give La’an this part?
Liz: She would be so good at it.
Anika: I feel like she would be better. I feel like Christina Chong could totally … she’s a physical actor. And I’m not saying that Babs is bad or anything. It’s just that this is clearly not in his wheelhouse. And I feel it’s a safe bet to say that Christina would be better at even just pretending to be good at it than he is.
Liz: It’s so funny that they hire someone like Babs and then continually get him to do stuff that is not in his wheelhouse. The musical episode, this. Why would you hire such a talented performer and then not write to his strengths? He’s good at action stuff, but he’s good at so much more.
Anika: Celia and Uhura were the correct choice for her plot. However, he could have that role, and I think he would kill it. And it would be less painful to watch him in the role that he’s given. Really, both scenes. And again, he’s very sidelined. He doesn’t do anything. But his scene at the bar where he’s just dropping the, he’s trying to do a flip and he just drops it three times. But and yet, there’s still liquid in it, so he can give Scotty his drink and get to reference data from—
Liz: Which was, in turn a reference to Scotty in the original series. This joke is so nice, we’ve gone to that well three times.
Anika: And then at the very end, he’s doing his bar tricks and he’s quote unquote succeeding. It made a really good actor look stupid. And I ached on his behalf.
Liz: And I was kind of like, do I hate this because I take things too seriously and I take Babs seriously as an actor and I want him to be, you know, dignified all the time, which is a thing that I do. But no, I think it’s just disrespectful to him as a performer.
Anika: Yeah, I think that he was the wrong choice for that role and they could, of course, correct it, but they did not and it’s painful. It’s painful, so, yeah. Oh, there was a mission.
Liz: Oh, yeah, there was a mission.
Anika: The end of the episode is, so Erica and Scotty succeed in finding their shuttle and their lost memories and they figure out everything and they realize that they have to get everybody to the peace talks that have been moved up for unknown reasons and the random sand and aliens who are fighting beam onto the Enterprise while everyone is still under the influence of the drunk planet, which is the wrong choice. I just want to put that out there. I think that delaying, if Christine is to be believed, one to two hours is the better option than going forward with the vitally important peace talks while drunk.
Liz: I mean, the show doesn’t take the peace talks seriously, so why should we?
Anika: I guess so. They definitely don’t take them seriously. They are all but making fun of the requirements that these people have, which are to be very formal, I guess, or to pretend to be formal. I don’t know. I think that adding formal before everything you said is, I guess, all you need to do to respect them.
Liz: In Mass Effect, there’s a race called the elcor, and their whole deal is that their language is so impenetrable that they add mood markers before they say anything. So it will be, “In a tone of deep regret, I’m sorry.” It felt like they were trying to do the elcor thing, but also not very good.
Anika: Interesting. But I mean, literally, the only word they added was formal.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: So. And then of course, they screw them up because Pike gives a meaningless, empty speech. And during the meaningless, empty speech, first Erica enters and causes a ruckus, and then Spock leaves and causes a ruckus. So they feel disrespected because they’re not being taken seriously, which is true.
Liz: Because they’re being disrespected.
Anika: But luckily, Scotty and Erica blow up a shuttle with a bomb, a secret bomb that was set to destroy the peace talks, and it makes such a big, beautiful explosion. And they can tell that the bomb had iridium or something like that. And so it was like, oh, you created this big, beautiful display for us. And so therefore, we will now set aside all of the disrespects that you did up until this point. And we will move forward the peace talks without your help. Thanks, guys. Bye.
Liz: Yeah. Please stop helping.
Anika: Which, I mean, in fairness to Strange New Worlds, felt very true to literally any other country dealing with Trump.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: Just make a pretty explosion that can distract him for five minutes, and he’ll go along with whatever the hell you want.
Liz: Yeah. But it’s also kind of how America deals with the world. We’re going to blow something up and you’re going to be grateful for it. I’m not anti-firework. I just want to say, I just thought that was funny.
Anika: It was just like, okay. I mean, again, yes. Because this entire episode was so light, I think, again, yeah, sure. There’s this whole peace talk thing going on, but we didn’t know anything about these cultures. We don’t know why the peace hasn’t happened yet. We don’t know anything. They are treated very much as a punch line. So the fact that it can be, you know, entirely resolved with a big, pretty fireworks display is par for the course, and fine.
Liz: It really reminded me of “The Big Goodbye”, you know, the first big holodeck episode. We all know it. Where Picard is so stressed from preparing for this big diplomatic engagement with these people who speak a particular language. And Deanna’s like, you need a break because you’re not going to be able to do the job.
And so he goes to the holodeck and, you know, it’s a holodeck story, things go awry, he gets trapped, it works out in the end. But the thing is, the mission is taken seriously. Deanna’s not like, drink all this alcohol and then go to the holodeck and then deliver your speech drunk.
Anika: This is why I decided after when I was writing the outline and I decided that I didn’t actually think Una was ready to be captain because this was her idea and it was a bad one. I was like, and Chapel too, they’re like, Christine explained how this all works and she knows exactly.
So it’s like she already knew about the planet and she was, so I was like this weird Una and Chapel found each other in the bar and chatted about something. They came up with this plot and were like, we’re going to spring it on the crew and they’re going to love it. That’s how it came across to me and it was just weird. It was just weird and I was like, this is a bad choice for both of you.
Liz: I feel like if we had left most of the crew behind and if it had just been Una and Christine and Scotty and Ortegas, these are the most stressed people in the crew, except for the captain, but for some reason, he won’t let us send him on vacation. That would have worked better.
Anika: Yeah, it was weird. It was literally Alpha Shift. It was, we’re going to take all of the important people on the ship and put them on this planet. Who knows what’s happening on the rest of the Enterprise? They don’t get to go on the trip.
Liz: It’s a little bit rough.
Anika: Okay. Is Una suggesting that the Alpha Shift is so stressed out because they are taking on all of the stuff that Pike is giving them and keeping it away from the rest of the crew? Is that the suggestion? Because that would be good on their part.
Liz: I think it’s that all the other Shifts have had shore leave lately. And for some reason, Alpha Shift was excluded, which doesn’t make Una look any better.
Anika: I know. Which is, the whole thing is just weird. The plot is very contrived. Because they needed to get there and they needed to do it. But the choice to make it, Pike is being too much of a taskmaster. And so Una chooses a resort planet. Neither of those choices make either of them look good. So that’s a problem.
Liz: No one comes out of this looking good. Except honestly, Scotty and Ortegas. I think they were the right characters to follow for this story.
Anika: And I enjoyed them. And I’m glad, again, I’m glad, I was worrying about them, they’re sniping throughout the season. And I was going to be mad about it because I didn’t want Ortegas’s entire character to be beefing with beloved character Scotty. That sounded like a terrible plot line. And so this was a welcome surprise. And again, I look forward to them just being friends now and maybe even teaching each other engineering and piloting. It’s nice.
Liz: So, this is very silly, but we’ve had Jett Reno talking about all the shuttles that she totaled. And I just want to posit a theory that Geordi is the only engineer in Starfleet who can actually fly a ship.
Anika: Yeah. It’s fun. And also I will say, I loved the bit where Erica got the warning light and she went down to see the engine room and it was crazy down there and she was like, oh.
Liz: Maybe they’re not just doing this to annoy me.
Anika: That was so good. Yeah. Because of course, from her perspective, it was, we’re just doing this to annoy you. And then Scotty was also, I am working out a way to give you more oomph. I’m leaning into your type of flying and supporting you by adjusting the engines. It was like, oh, they learned something from their trip. Hurray. That was great. I really liked the very, very end with Scotty and Ortegas. And really everything Scotty and Ortegas. Yeah.
Liz: I saw some people worrying based off the premiere that we were going to be asked to ship them this season. And I’m so glad that bullet has been dodged.
Anika: Yes. It’s so funny because I was like, of course, I suppose that was supposed to be getting because I got zero shipping vibes from them in the premiere.
Liz: No, I’m saying.
Anika: Yes, of course, it’s a trope to have rivals to lovers, people who are sniping at each other and then realize that the reason they’re sniping at each other is because of all of this sexual tension. But I didn’t read it that way at all. And I’m very pleased to realize that was the correct take. And that, yeah, I mean, they literally can bury each other to their siblings in this episode. So that’s definitely the vibe we’re supposed to be getting. And it’s all good, which I guess brings us to shipping news.
Liz: Woo! So Spock and La’an, actively avoiding each other.
Anika: It is now funny to me how much they are not a couple. We are definitely not supposed to care about this at all. The show does not care about this at all. They are going through the motions. This is more proof that La’an is destined for something absolutely horrible to happen to her.
Because the relationship, it was doomed from the start. We knew that it was doomed from the start, but it is so doomed now. They are just going through the motions. They don’t care about each other at all. It was just a fun-sized relationship, and that’s all it’s ever going to be, clearly.
Liz: If it had been better executed, I think I would be into Star Trek showing that sometimes, you have a relationship, it fizzles out and that’s okay. But there was so much drama around it in season three, that it’s like, why did we spend all this time on this, so we could have been doing literally anything else?
Anika: Yeah, and so, okay. So, Spock and La’an are, to be fair, sitting together at the bar in that very opening scene where Una points out how stressed out everybody is, and she says, La’an is wound super tightly and it’s making Spock crazy too. And so, they were sort of a couple in theory in that explanation, but that’s it.
The whole rest of the episode, they’re separated. They go on vacation together and spend zero time together. Spock spends the entire episode with Kirk in his quarters alone. Yep. And La’an is just beating people up for fun in multiple scenes.
Liz: I mean, she is basically the kid on the playground that everyone’s scared of.
Anika: Yeah. The Scotty finds La’an scary bit has been really run into the ground, by the way. I’m definitely done with Scotty calling La’an scary. You get it. But so La’an is just not even a factor of Spock’s journey. She is not. And Spock thinks that he is hallucinating Kirk. He was hallucinating Christine in last episode. And there’s just so much to unpack there.
Liz: I’m honestly a little impressed because I feel like this is the first time that Strange New Worlds has really leaned into specifically queerbaiting.
Anika: Yes. Up to this point, I’ve been like, okay, that can be read in a queer light, but it is not actively written that way. It’s not intentional.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: This felt intentional.
Liz: Parentheses derogatory.
Anika: Because again, literally last episode, this wasn’t a season ago or at the beginning of this season, and now at this, no. Literally last episode, Spock hallucinated Christine and had a whole conversation with her about what it meant.
And in this episode, he thinks he’s hallucinating Kirk the entire time. He has all these personal conversations with him. And then he finds out that no, he was really there. He was really there. Kirk was inexplicably really on the planet and inexplicably really came back. What did Spock think when they were on the shuttle together? Back to the Enterprise.
Liz: And wouldn’t someone else notice?
Anika: Did literally no one else talk to him the entire shuttle ride, or did he just assume that he was hallucinating that too? No, because at the end, the only reason he figures out that he’s really there is that they can see him. They didn’t think this through, okay? Because why was Kirk on the planet to begin with? Why did Kirk come back onto the Enterprise with them? How did Kirk come back onto the Enterprise with them?
Liz: Why is Kirk in this episode?
Anika: I can’t stop laughing. Everything about Kirk is so funny to me. It’s so… So yes, he’s… Okay, I realized because the poster for season four, the big poster for season four, was on the screen at my screening and behind them the whole time while they were talking, right?
Liz: Yes.
Anika: And I realized that Kirk is in it and Scotty isn’t. Even though…
Liz: That is… I would be kind of mad about that if I was that actor.
Anika: I was just like, wait a minute, because Martin is a main cast member.
Liz: Yeah.
Anika: I’m pretty sure it was Martin. Definitely there was one person who was not in it and Kirk was randomly there. And I did not understand why. So, yeah. But yeah, I mean, Kirk was a special guest appearance, but he’s just constantly a special guest appearance. There is no reason.
That’s why, again, if they had just promoted Pike, Kirk could be on the Enterprise as, who is first officer? Or he could be on the Enterprise as commander, not quite captain, but we’re trying it out. There are different ways that he could be there. Pike could even stay and he could have two first officers again because he was being a Commodore and he was, you’re both going to be captains since we’re training you for captaining under my commodoreship.
There are so many ways you could make it make sense, but they don’t even try. They just literally have Kirk, oh, I just happened to be on the resort planet at the same time as you and I followed you back to your hotel room and hung out with you all night long. Because that’s a totally normal thing that people do.
Liz: And it’s not creepy at all.
Anika: And it’s not queer.
Liz: No homo.
Anika: I’m sorry, but there’s literally, you cannot read this in a heterosexual normal thing that people do best friends way. I’m sorry. That doesn’t make sense if they’re not already best friends. Kirk is a funny guy. I can see him, Spock sees him and starts treating him like he’s a hallucination. He decides to play along. But for days… And they don’t kiss? What are you talking about? That doesn’t make sense.
Liz: I feel like this is an Am I The Asshole post. “Dear Reddit, my partner and I have a young son. My partner went on shore leave recently without me, and I found out that he spent the entire time hanging out with a guy he’s met at work, instead of helping with our baby. Should I be angry?”
Anika: I thought it was going to be an Am I The Asshole from Kirk’s point of view.
Liz: I mean, okay, the self-awareness.
Anika: The self-awareness to realize he should be posting it.
Liz: “I hang out with this guy I know from work, instead of helping out with my partner and new baby. Why is she mad at me?”
Anika: I mean, she refused to pick up his call. So there is a universe where Carol has completely cut him off, and so he is upset. He’s in this, I’m really angry and rethinking my life, and so I have to go. We wouldn’t do this, though.
Liz: To the planet where the air makes you drunk.
Anika: Yes, I have to go to the planet that makes you drunk to think about my life. Am I the asshole? The planet of good decisions. But it’s nonsense. It is full on nonsense. And again, if you divorce every single thing that happens, everything you know about Kirk and or Spock, I really like their relationship. But, with context, no.
Liz: It’s bad.
Anika: And it is just blatant queerbaiting. I’m sorry. Spock has feelings for him. That’s literally the plot. Spock has feelings. It’s the title of the episode. Spock has decided that the reason he’s seeing and hallucinating Kirk is because he’s his human best friend. And again, the most recent person he’s hallucinated is his cutoff fiancée. He was worrying about his two human feelings, which again, are directed at Kirk.
Liz: Yeah. And if I thought that this was going to be a genuinely queer story, honestly, I’d still be kind of side-eyeing it because Kirk has a baby, but I would be like, fine. However.
Anika: So when he got to that point where he was like, I was on the planet, and eventually I’ll go back to my ship, but, you know, not until I have to. It’s just like, wait, if he had vacation time, he should be with his baby. And that’s when I was like, wait a minute, what if Starfleet is awesome and gives you a year of paternity leave, and he decided to use it to go to the drug planet and play a prank on Spock.
Liz: This is like those guys who take paternity leave and spend the whole time playing video games.
Anika: It’s just, why are you trying to make me hate Captain Kirk, is what I have to say about it.
Liz: I mean. So the rest of the shipping news, M’Benga is very clearly into Una and he should be, and this series should end with the two of them leaving Starfleet and going off to have fabulous adventures together.
Anika: 100 percent.
Liz: Yeah. I want Star Trek: White Lotus, where they check in at an actual luxury resort.
Anika: Yes. Oh my God.
Liz: Then the bodies start falling. And solve crime.
Anika: The spinoff we all deserve, and frankly, both of those actors deserve as well. And the relationship, perfect. I think we should end the episode on that because that’s perfect.
Liz: Well, I just want to say that Ortegas and Uhura seem very into each other, and I’m not mad about it, except that I think that it’s once again queerbaiting.
Anika: Yeah, it was interesting because Uhura, and of course, Uhura is closer to Ortegas, she’s known her longer and they’re good friends, and I could absolutely imagine that they’re very touchy-feely friends.
Liz: Yes.
Anika: The vibes are there, but she’s all over Ortegas and Scotty is also there. So it felt notable.
Liz: I mean, if they want to set up a thing where Uhura dates both of them, totally okay with that. I just don’t think that’s where it’s going. Anyway, let’s get back to what’s really important and M’Benga, Uhura, White Lotus, go.
Anika: Thank you for listening to Antimatter Pod. You can find our show notes at antimatterpod.com, including links to our social media, credits for our theme music, and transcripts of our episodes.
You can follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, TikTok, Instagram, and Blue Sky, all at antimatterpod, and at Mastodon, at antimatterpod@tenforward.social.
If you like us, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you consume your podcasts. The more reviews, the easier it is for new listeners to find us and tell your friends. We will return next week to discuss the next episode of Star Trek Strange New Worlds, “A Case of Chiaroscuro”.