Kind of shocked at how negative the reaction has been here. I quite liked it. It’s funny, and the performances are great. There are a few rough edges, but it feels counterproductive to discuss them in this atmosphere. Luckily, it;s already been renewed for S2!

there was just an article in NYTimes about how this isn’t the case in any hive, they just elevate a new queen

“Franca” means “Frankish”, not “French”, and “Frankish” refers to any western European.

I had a fascinating trilingual set-up in college this one time...

He’s a pfeffel all right.

An Lushan rebellion represent!

Predictions:

From the band Sleater-Kinney, and co-creator/star of the TV show “Portlandia”.

If you want TNG Season 8, this is not your show. Of course, Stewart would not have come back for TNG Season 8. The only reason we’re getting these characters again is because Chabon convinced Stewart that ST:Picard would a different kettle of Antarean fish than TNG. 

It’s the vinyl record of the future!

Fantasy that does not feature a Hero’s Journey: check out Maresca’s Maradaine books, set in a quintessential fantasy world (vaguely European renaissance-ish, magic and wizards) but more concerned with fighting crime than venturing off into the unknown. Also, Mieville’s Bas-Lag series. That’s just off the top of my…

Actually, leave the Blanc character out of it completely.

That is certainly an... idiosyncratic definition of genre. What happens to stories set in fantastic worlds that do not feature a Hero’s Journey?

On TNG they would have dispensed with the plot of these three episodes in the first act of one episode.

I’ve never understood this point of view. Criticizing a work of art doesn’t mean you think you can do better. It means that you can analyze a work of art and write about it. This has nothing to do with whether you, the reader, enjoy the art or not. If you enjoy it, fine, that’s something no one else can have an…

My counter-theory is that the Romulans themselves are a true biosynthetic race, created by the ancient Vulcans with that fact lost to the sands of time.

Is Star Fleet the only outfit that gets to go to space? Surely she has transferable skills to the private sector.

What you’re saying is that genre is based on the plot? You take the exact same characters in the exact same setting, and put one character on a Hero’s Journey and that is fantasy, but if she does something else it would be science fiction? That makes the “hard sci fi” ideology make sense, by comparison. Are you saying…

b) Credits. He paid the taxi with credits. Which he has a lot of, because retired admiral. Or maybe the wine business is somehow booming in an era where people drink replicated tequila?

a) All the transporter use we’ve seen on earth is transporter-to-transporter, not transporter-to-remote site. The one exception is Picard and Laris beaming to Dahj’s apartment, which was probably illegal. Maybe transporting to remote sites is something you only do when you’re out in space and there’s no receiving…