My assumption about the Union cluelessness is that it makes sense if we think of them as less of a completely integrated society like the Federation, but more of a loose alliance. With each world in it still pretty much on its own. More like the European Union, than the United States.

When did Gaiman stop being a fun writer of pretty decent books, and become such a parody of himself? (Was it before or after he and Amanda Palmer became an item?)

The work he did on that always made me think he would have been the perfect choice to direct The Golden Compass movie, but of course my good ideas went unheeded by Hollywood.

The more I think about it, the more I think this is actually the one avenue for his dialogue to work. The Storyteller was always pretty stylised, and Gaiman’s particular voice is best suited to short fairy tales.

It’s going to be hard replacing John Hurt, though my initial thought is ‘what’s Peter Capaldi doing right now?’

I don’t have a problem with Section 31 being written as part of Starfleet Intelligence. It makes the Federation more like any actual state. My problem with this storyline is that I have no faith in the writers to do anything actually interesting with it. If you want to interrogate the Federation’s ideals, and the work…

I mean no one in sitcoms is exactly a comic genius. A show is always the result of a bunch of different writers, actors, and compromises with studio executives.
Tina Fey is simply a very funny person, who also has some blind spots.
For what it’s worth I never thought that the show portrayed Kimmy’s abduction as a joke.…

But the whole point was that she was supposed to look like she had no business commanding a fleet.

I’d have even settled for a Joe Hisaishi score for this.

What’s a shame about this adaptation is that the books had some very clear cinematic inspirations. They were basically Miyazaki movies (Nausicaa, and Castle in the Sky particularly), with some early Jean Pierre Jeunet, and Monty Python thrown in.
Jackson and Rivers seem to have gone for something far more generic and…

I think it’s because ultimately they weren’t really at great risk. If Chibnall had wanted to make them more of a family, then the stakes for them should have been greater. Ryan and Graham got a thing to show what they meant to each other, but for the most part everyone just wandered around while Teeth Face just…

Yeah, I don’t doubt that there are probably machinations at the BBC that influence the production in ways that we’re not aware of. Moffat had to deal with budget cuts if I remember correctly.
My partner wanted to get caught up on the show before this season started, after checking out during season 6. She asked me to…

As much as I appreciate the character work this season, I feel like this year doesn’t really measure up to most of the previous seasons. Maybe it’s just a personal disconnect, but I feel the show is missing the wit, and sense of scale it had before. A lot of episodes this year have all felt very similar in tone.
I…

Yeah, I was gonna say, a Doctor who’s character was defined by simply wanting to help because it’s the right thing to do could just as much be Twelve as Thirteen.

What’s it like hating fun?

It’s strange how a show that’s been in production since 2006, can feel so clumsily made (small example: the alien prosthetics this season all look confusingly similar). The whole season feels like a trial run for the real version of the show to be made next year.

Yeah, I think engaging such a loaded moment in actual, recent history head on can only lead to all sorts of unintended results, and unanswered questions. This season in general feels slightly too literal when tackling ‘issues’. 

The scenes with Ribbons were symptomatic of the Doctor’s cluelessness this season. 

I sympathise with Warren and her team, because they so clearly wanted to show that they’re willing to step into the ring and tussle with Trump.
Hopefully this will be a lesson for them that you can’t fight them on these terms. There is no legitimate argument to be made here, because Republicans aren’t interested in…

And considering won most of upstate in the primary, being a progressive is not necessarily a negative up here either.