Going to lie down because it's hot as balls in my apartment and also because I'm just exhausted from not sleeping great. Thus why this is being posted randomly in the middle of the day. I was going to post this tonight but god knows if I'll even be awake.
I've always had really awful birthdays. Either it was outright ignored or I was punished for even having one. My parents were... unpleasant. Star Trek became my escape. Could see amazing people make amazing choices and be the best they wanted to be instead of lying and saying they were good people. Actions speak louder than words, after all, and the actions of the crew of the Enterprise-D (specifically) were what helped me sort of override a lot of the disgusting hateful stuff I was taught as a child. Also made me feel like a person instead of a burden.
I've not really been able to delve in deep to a lot of Trek communities sometimes because, well, it's the internet. People can get a bit toxic behind a computer screen. This place has been anything but. Pure kindness and love from everyone here. Top to the bottom. Honestly it seems pretty worth it to me to forego birthday gifts throughout my life to be able to find y'all.
You are all awesome. I don't want birthday wishes and stuff, I get enough of those from Starbucks and other companies trying to get me to buy their shit that I cannot afford, but I want y'all to appreciate yourself for a couple minutes. You're a great person, you've helped make an amazing community, and I am eternally grateful.
You are AWESOME. Love y'all.
Live so very motherfucking long and prosper more than you could ever dream.
As a reference to Malcolm Reed's birthday episode in Enterprise. He also didn't seem to have great experiences with birthdays
I'll let you in on a secret.
I've never actually finished Enterprise. I've read a shitload of episodes on Memory Alpha and I've researched certain things in order to prove other points (holograms in Discovery as an example) but I've never finished it. I wouldn't even say that I really properly started it... I'm currently going through Voyager and then I plan to go back to TNG, DS9 and then over to ENT before finally seeing Prodigy.
It's good! I understand why people don't like it, but it's not as bad as a lot of people say. It's cool seeing the crew learn the lessons that will become the Prime Directive, and the Xindi story is really good. And of course, there is the incomparable Jeffery Combs as Commander Shran, one of my all-time favorite characters
Well when I started watching it originally I was pretty young. At the time my love of Star Trek was more a love of TNG. Other Trek had a huge bar to clear for me and I wasn't appreciating it for what it was. Moreover, it was new and different. Therefore I lowkey hated it at the start which was also wildly unfair. The theme song infuriated me yet now I blast it at top volume and sing along. Like I actually have it on my spotify. So most of my complaints were completely unfounded. It was just me being a whiny teenager.
However there is one complaint that I believe still holds up, at least kind of. The 'sex appeal' of Voyager was fairly bad with 'Skin Suit of Nine' but those decontamination showers in Enterprise really put it over the top for me. I get that there's gonna be sex appeal in stuff, that's fine, but because I'm gay, the straight stuff doesn't appeal to me even remotely. Especially when it was so heavily geared towards showing off women. I just felt really uncomfortable watching some of those decontamination scenes. That's what I mean by it kind of holds up. I think that the sex appeal stuff was a legitimate problem but not enough to not watch the show . There are some people who worked on the show who I have some serious fucking problems with (Rick Berman and Doug Drexler being the main two) but that's personal stuff. Doesn't impact the show at all. I've just been avoiding Enterprise the entire time with no clear or legit reason. Thus why I've got Enterprise ready to go, I just haven't hit play yet. I'm also just looking forward to Phlox actually. The actor who plays him, John Billingsley, is one of my favorite actors from my all time favorite movie. Also Porthos. He cute.
I am not immune to fan service. I'm bi, and think both T'Pol and Trip are hot lol
But I agree the decon scenes were weird and unnecessary. I didn't really like any of the "sexy" parts of Enterprise, except for some stuff near the end, that I won't mention because of spoilers, and when they had to decon Porthos lol
Phlox is the best! I love his episodes, especially the one where he's writing a letter to his pen pal, and narrates the whole thing. He's also great in the episodes with Dr. Soong
Oh objectively? T'Pol and Trip are both pretty hot. However I am very picky with my tastes. I don't really have a type. It's just more like 'the perfect porn' kinda deal. You know it when you see it. Weirdly there's only like... 6 main characters from all of Trek that I've found personally attractive and most are from Discovery. Culber, Saru for some weird fucking reason, Season 1 Ash Tyler with the short hair, DSC/SNW Pike and Commander Motherfucking Riker. Or Captain Daddy Riker. Both are fucking glorious. Wait... what were we talking about?
Don't gotta worry about spoilers for me on Enterprise though. I've spoiled it myself so many times. I know so many of the episodes and stuff that happens, I just haven't watched it properly. So I can go on a full discussion about the Xindi or how Florida got what it deserved or how Archer went space pirate for that one episode and left people to effectively die in space or the whole clone debacle or a dozen other things. The final episode I've also seen just simply because I wanted to see what people were complaining about.
John Billingsley is a legend. Not surprised that he's a fantastic doctor. I am a bit sad that Enterprise as a whole doesn't get more love. It's been really nice seeing it lately though with all the references in Discovery, Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks. Archer Spacedock in Discovery was pretty great, especially with his theme playing over the top.
I'm glad they're putting more references in Discovery. That was one of the things that turned me off of it. They were doing this whole thing with the Mirror Universe, and they didn't even mention Hoshi being the leader of the Terran Empire. Like, obviously she's not still going to be alive (though a Warhammer 40k-style Emperor Hoshi would have been awesome), but they could have at least mentioned it. Maybe I'll have to give Discovery a second chance. If only to see some Saru ass ;p
They at least referenced the Defiant Mirror Universe stuff. Whole time in the MU trying to find that data only for it to be useless.
Season 3 and 4 have references to EVERY Star Trek that came before it due to quirks of how the show is going.
I do plead for you to give it another chance. The first season is rough, I will not lie, but the Second Season steps up immensely. Season 3 it really has it's footing and is sprinting (they did a ton of filming in Iceland and it looks GORGEOUS) and Season 4 is just truly fucking incredible. Also there is Saru ass lol
Do they improve on Burnham's character? I could not stand her.
That depends on what your issue with her is I guess. What about her didn't you like? Or rather what do you hope they'd change or work on?
She was like the textbook definition of a Mary Sue. Weird name, unique powers, family relation to a well-loved character from a previous series, no flaws other than ones that are supposed to make her more endearing, etc.
Really the main thing I'd want changed is real flaws and emotions beyond dislike of authority
I really don't agree with your characterization there.
Her name might be weird to us but this is an alternate future with aliens so a girl being called Michael is not that strange. Nor would I say it's a calling card of a Mary Sue. She doesn't have any unique powers at all either. She's just flat human woman. Being related to a previous character also isn't really the hallmark of a Mary Sue. As for no flaws, she has an enormous amount. I would also say that she doesn't even have a dislike of authority. She has a problem with managing her own authority and overstepping others. When given an order she'll comply, mostly. There are a handful of instances in which she doesn't and there are massive repercussions for that. Her flaws run pretty deep. Emotional insecurity and emotional instability due to her upbringing. A problem with not knowing when to stop to the point that she has endangered herself or the crew on a few occasions. She makes rash decisions. She doesn't ask for help when she needs it and she often rejects help when it's given. She will take on responsibility for herself that is unnecessary. Spock even makes fun of that in Season 2.
Also the bit about flaws that are supposed to make her more endearing. I honestly cannot think of a single example of any of them throughout the show, especially when everyone reacts to her with utter hatred. I didn't like her either at the start of the show but that's sort of the point. She's built as a character that's meant to be redeemed, to start off at a low point and an embarassment and to see their character development. Shows don't work like they do 30 years ago. Characters can't really come fully formed in an episodic TV show. You need to leave room to grow. Starting off with a character that was fucking up catastrophically is honestly not that much different than what they did with Barclay. It was just done on a larger scale.
I also disagree with the characterization of 'Mary Sue' because she's not the sole person to fix everything. She has never been the sole person to fix everything. She is a person who fixes things but she's a part in the machine. Throughout Season 3 and 4 you get to see a lot more of the other crew and spend time with them instead of Michael, but they were still there making the massive decisions that made an impact in Season 1 and 2. We just didn't know them as well. If anything, Michael is the antithesis of a Mary Sue simply because she's the person who causes so many problems in Season 1.
Honestly I don't think you'd like Season 3 or 4 if you already seem to hate every fiber of the character.
I appreciate the detailed analysis. For me, it seemed like we were supposed to empathize with all the horrible decisions she made at the beginning of season 1, which is what I considered her flaws that were meant to be endearing. I'm glad to hear that's not the case. I never made it that far; I was at the point where they had to take a bunch of snapshots of the Klingon ship, maybe a bit further, but it's been a while..
She did have special powers though. In that regard, I was talking about her telepathic connection with her and Spock's dad, which kind of felt like it came out of nowhere.
As long as I'm not actually supposed to like her in the beginning, I think it'll be worth giving Discovery another shot. With how good SNW and Lower Decks have been, plus what I've heard about Picard s3 (though I haven't seen it yet, because I'm doing a TNG rewatch first), I'm hopeful
You are supposed to empathize with her to an extent, but not fully. She fucked up and she owns it and you're supposed to at least connect with the idea of making mistakes. Season 1 is extremely rough but then again so was every other Trek that came before. Season 2 got better but it wasn't until Season 3 that things started to find its footing. A lot of people hate the answer as to the season long mystery of 3 but again I genuinely don't get why.
I will say though, she did not have those special powers, it was Sarek. She can't do that with anyone else or even initiate it with Sarek. Sarek has to be the one to do it.
I mean, it doesn't seem like you're supposed to like her to me. She's unbearable at the start. Smug and arrogant and frankly a shitty person. But she has a lot of growth of season 1 and that only continues on.