A pretty solid finale to a pretty excellent season.

I liked a lot of it - Reno and the cadets having to solve the problem using their wits alone, Nus Braka's ridiculous show trial, and the ultimate resolution of de-weaponizing the minefield (which one would think has long-term implications, if they've truly found a way to permanently stabilize Omega). The cast was stellar, which we've come to expect at this point.

I'm not completely satisfied with the resolution of the individual story arcs. I don't think we got enough of Sam 2.0 for her inner conflict to really land, and while I assume ther and Genesis' made-up language is a callback to something, but I honestly don't remember it clearly. And I thought Anisha came around to Nala and the Federation too quickly at the end - I would have liked to have seen her a little angstier in that final scene.

The overall theme of the season has been identity, and choosing who you want to be. The cadets all went through that coming-of-age process, but so did the Doctor, and arguably Ake as well. I do hope we get to know Genesis better in season two, and Darem deserves more as well.

And I do hope they find Ocam - I assume he wandered off into the woods or something after episode 8.

I look forward to analyses. Was it a lack of clear alternatives, or is their base so far gone that they genuinely think he's their guy?

The BBC just confirmed that the show will continue and will return with a Christmas special in 2026 penned by showrunner Russell T. Davies.

Good. Let's just put it all behind us and move forward.

I think Discovery handled Pike's "destiny" in the best possible way by rooting it in character.

Pike grabs that time crystal because he's dedicated to the mission, and to Starfleet. He will eventually save those cadets for the exact same reason. There doesn't have to be anything metaphysical going on there - he affirms that that's the kind of person he is, and that's why he'll end up in that situation one day, even knowing it's coming.

It makes me sad that SNW has been diluting that.

This should be an absolute humiliation for Hajdu and Carney, and I hope (but don't expect) their responses will reflect that.

30 seconds later

As someone who's not familiar with the LA area, it blows my mind that those things are basically in the middle of an urban area.

If you have a helpful resource, such as a compilation of Canadian artists in the past year, let me know and I can edit it into this post.

The list of 2025 Juno nominees would probably be a good (but imperfect) place to start.

TrekCulture isn't a misinfo outlet, so I would trust their reporting to be accurate.

That said, Mulgrew has made similar comments in the past.

to shreds, you say

It gets converted into another form, as in the operation of any machine. I'm not arguing that it's destroyed.

It should be a conspiracy of like-minded individuals that exists parasitically within Starfleet, not an official (or an unofficial official agency).

In fairness, Sloan said they were a branch of Starfleet Intelligence with an official designation in his very first appearance on DS9, and nothing that came after that really contradicted him (other than his obvious lies in "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges").

Whatever liberties have been taken since then, that wasn't one of them.