Y. M. Nelson: On this episode of Nerdy Romantics Podcast, we continue our discussion about Star Trek: Section 31. We’re going to talk a little bit about the cast of characters, well, a lot about the cast of characters. We’ll give this one a Goodreads rating, and we may even drop a couple of Easter eggs. So stay tuned! 

This is the Nerdy Romantics Podcast and I’m your host, YM Nelson.

back to top

[00:00:52] Pan and Philippa’s relationship

Marcie: But speaking of informing characters where I was going before that before we got all the way to the end was that I had some thoughts on Pan because I feel I blame Pan for how bad she got. Because if we are two, we are one, we are two, whatever they said, and if

Y. M. Nelson: We are two that are forever- Yeah,

Marcie: for everyone, if, the agreement had always been that one of them would have to do these horrible things, and that the other one was gonna be there to support them after they did the horrible thing, then I blame him for not having been what he said he was going to be.

And so, when he at the end, The second time, when he really died, and he says, I lied. I always needed you. He was telling the truth. He didn’t have the spine to be a leader because he didn’t even have the spine to be the person he said he was going to be to her that was supposed to be the balance that kept her from going off the rails that far.

He never checked her after they got there. He stopped being who he said he was going to be. And then she got caught up, and then he was always there. And although she was trying to reach, use him to reach back to remind her of who she, the tiniest little sliver of who she used to be, he never did. He didn’t say, he never tried to counsel her otherwise after she went out.

I say that. Because that’s what it appears over time. He got he internalized a lot He was angry at her for the killing somebody else did of his family. I think he took I think he took his emotions; he didn’t handle any of his own situation well either, and I think that he blamed her for a lot of things that he didn’t take accountability for until the second time he tried to die.

When she killed him– although I’m not gonna lie to you– I thought when he said that to her, and he said I lied, he was gonna stab her. I just, I didn’t, at first, I thought, you know what I’m saying? Like, at first, I thought, Oh, she not gonna make it! Right! I was, I literally was like, oh, she not gonna make it.

Then when he really died, I was like, this dude is weak all the time. Like, all the time. You gon be the same you, okay? So, I think that that was the one thing where I feel like there is some I think that she may not have been who we know her to be if he had been who he said he would be when they both were faced with this horrible dilemma of basically, which turned out to be either way her family was gonna die, at least they died by her hand and she got to say goodbye.

I mean, I’m not saying she’s a great person. That’s not what I’m saying. But I’m saying in that moment When she was, when she was young, before she was who we know her to be. She was faced with a decision that was almost, there was no good answer, right? Except that they had this agreement and that agreement, he let her down.

She did what, what he could not do and then he could not do what he said he would do. And that to me, so when I saw him and he was whining and about to destroy the, well, Sir, have several seats. Your chance to be a hero has come and gone, while you said nothing and then playing this plot too little too late.

Like, I was like, what are we doing? Like, it just, I felt like, felt like either they could have written him better or he just could have been better. But I, I felt no sympathy when he actually died. I was like, well, finally. 

Y. M. Nelson: I, I disagree, but I agree. This is very hard. I agree with everything you just said about what he did, but I think I disagree that that made him weak. And I think part of the reason why I disagreed that that made him weak was I think what happened was that that neither one of them took accountability for anything that they were doing.

And I think he went in and internalized this stuff and hate it, just like you’re saying, exactly like you’re saying. But I think she went unchecked off the rail. I think what happened, I think what happened was, in that moment where she burned him with that sword, I think that severed that whole, we are one kind of thing.

Even though in the back of their minds, it was still there. I think, I think, except for in the back of their minds,

Staci: in the back of her mind more

Y. M. Nelson: of her mind

Staci: mind, I think once he got burned, and I guess look in the mirror every morning, he was like,

Y. M. Nelson: Right. It’s more of a, it’s more of a, he’s on the losing side and –

Staci: yeah, and I think-

Marcie: but I think she thought that as mercy.

Staci: Yeah, but I think she did. But at the same time,

Y. M. Nelson: But he didn’t.

Staci: I mean, we never see, but we don’t see how he was treated.

So, what do you call the eternal supplicant that-

Y. M. Nelson: Right! He’s supposed to be her servant and stuff, and it’s like, what did she do? What else did she do to-

Staci: to him! Yeah! So we don’t know if like she could have been treating him as a footstool, you know, as far, you know, as far as we know, we don’t know how badly it got on that in before she had her, conscience come into play at some point because I see her trying to bring that into play.

But if you’ve been beat down for so long you were like, “I don’t care what happened when I was 15 years old, I wish you would die bitch.”

I mean it might not be the same thing. might come from a different area from his point So, it, I think it might be just different from his end of it, you know, that kind of thing. So, I mean, I don’t, but I do see the, that, cause she was, you know, every time she tried to hug, it was like, see, so, you know, trying to get him to understand.

It was like, yeah, you might, it’s hard to understand when you were on the one end of the stick and I’m on the other one. And I mean, I’m just saying, I might not feel the same way about

Marcie: And I think her confusion was but you didn’t say nothing. I think when he said when he said nobody wants to live in your kingdom Emperor or whatever, I think she was confused. She looked shocked! But it was because I don’t think he said anything along the way like “hey girl. Don’t do it!”

And so, I think she sure I knew I’m sure she knew it was wrong But I also think in her mind at that level she may have thought it was the right decision at the time. I don’t know. She did a lot of crazy things.

But my point here is, hey, I don’t think he has said anything along the way that would have given her the indication that he actually felt that way up until the point where he took the, the, the, I feel like there was, yeah. And so, he took the fake poison that he had been building up immunity, like something out of Princess Bride, but it’s neither here nor there.

I feel like he didn’t say anything. So, she thought he was supporting her because that’s what they had agreed. Meanwhile, he’s like, you’re a horrible person and I never want to, I don’t know why you would think that. But at the same time, why would I not think that? You here every day not saying anything.

Staci: But as a person who’s watched in her the parallel world I don’t know when he had a chance to say that because they kill people for just saying- for looking at you funny. And I

mean, I don’t again it goes to the part that we don’t see what’s happening behind closed doors because in that world They will kill like a subordinate comes at you the wrong way

Oh, and they’ll kill you just like that.

Marcie: Okay. And that’s the part I don’t- that’s a piece. I don’t understand like I that’s a part of context I don’t have so. Maybe I judged him harshly I will I will reconsider

Y. M. Nelson: And, and considering that he is in this servant role, and that and he might have even thought that the burning was, he might have even agreed with her that the burning was showing mercy. He probably just wanted to keep that inside so he could stay alive. Because yes, in season 3 of Star Trek: Discovery, where we saw her backstory of her going off the rails, people were killing people just to get a one up.

 There’s this episode of Star Trek: TOS, one of the few that I watched, everybody on here knows that I haven’t watched all of TOS, but but there’s this one episode of TOS where They go into this. I think it’s kind of like it’s supposed to kind of be like a Nazi thing.

They do this a couple of times, but they go into the kind of like this Nazi kind of thing where they’re killing each other just to get a one up, just to get control of the enterprise, and one person’s killing one per- and so people are kind of subdued and trying to figure out whose side do I get on so I won’t be killed and maybe take advantage of this person.

It kind of gave me that kind of feeling in that season three of Star Trek: Discovery where all of that stuff is going on, but it’s really- the whole point of me saying all of this is that I agree; where is the time if that is if that is actually the world that he’s in if that’s what the Terran Empire looks like where is the time for him to speak out?

Staci: Yeah, and I’m thinking at that when she first became the ruler, whatever she was looked at really hard. And so, I don’t think she could show any signs of favoritism, weakness, or what they consider favoritism or weakness, which would be mercy and compassion at that time. So, I think. It could have been, and I know what you’re justifying the mess for at this point, but but,

Y. M. Nelson: No, we’re not!

Staci: We’re not just, you know, I’m giving like giving-

Y. M. Nelson: We’re just trying to make the story make sense.

Staci: I think that maybe like initially she had to be, just a badass just to get to that, to make sure she stays on top and not be murdered in her sleep because you, you say it was like an episode of TOS. I was like thinking it was Oz, you know, that prison

Y. M. Nelson: Oh yeah!

Staci: show that

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah.

Staci: had something going on. You know, I guess a mix between Oz and Survivor, what, you know, one of those things with people got a Big Brother where people got to work together and we’ll

Y. M. Nelson: That’s

Staci: person and then I get on top and I’ll help you with it. I mean, that’s I mean it was one of those, I,

they were probably the most paranoid, to tear an empire you had to be a paranoid ass to get anywhere because you had to, everybody was coming at you from some sort of angle and you had to push them down, build alliances with some and push the others down, and they don’t care, gotta watch your back from the ones you’re building alliances with, cause even always the other alternative Michael was trying to get rid of Michelle’s character.

I mean in the in the actual the show Yeah in that show and so and she actually liked her. That’s when she had the glimmer- that’s why she liked our version of Michael because she actually had I guess almost like a daughter- mother daughter kind of mentorship thing with the other Michael and her alternate reality kind of a thing so I mean, it’s,

I can understand where, you know, we can’t see, why he actually did this initially turn like he did, but at the same time he was, he wasn’t a mega villain because I don’t think this is supposed to be a mega role like a, a big. encompassing movie. I think this is

like, hey, this is just a, Hey, if we do a couple of episodes, we’ll have some villains in here, but he’s, he wasn’t like this all consuming shadowy villain. I mean, he was kind of shadow at first, but it wasn’t really like the big, a big role role. You know what I’m saying? Like a big-

Y. M. Nelson: he’s not gonna be a Q.

Staci: Yes.

Marcie: Right, I

Staci: have that.

Y. M. Nelson: him, whatever it is.

Marcie: died the second time, I was okay with it, but I, I will, I will concede that I may have judged him harshly because I don’t have the context of all the other alternate universes, so I will concede that maybe that was to your point.

But I agree with you, Staci, to the point he wasn’t a mega villain and but I do think it was interesting when she said small things have a way of of spreading or something like that when they said kind of implying that the, the nano thingies are not like they didn’t all get blown up or something.

Y. M. Nelson: oh, yeah. Even in big explosion, small things

Staci: Survive, yeah.

Marcie: So, I think, I think that that’s another one of those precursors that maybe we’ll get, we’ll

Y. M. Nelson: yeah, something, so, so, yeah, and I think kind of what he represented here was kind of a, we’re showing you where Phillipa is coming from and she’s shedding kind of the last of that so she can become this section 31 kind of whatever.

And two, you know, when he dies the second time, that was sort of an accident. She kind of didn’t want to do

Marcie: I mean, she didn’t mean to kill him that same time. However, I do think it informed, to your point, you’re right. It did inform her. softened her, I think you’re right. It made, it gave that opening that they needed

Y. M. Nelson: yeah,

Marcie: her to work with everyone else. To make that connection with Alok to

Y. M. Nelson: exactly. So, so this is the thing, like we were saying, in the back of her mind, he’s still, that little shred of conscience in the back of her mind. In order for her to bond with these Section 31 people, she gotta shed that, I think. That’s kind of, I think, where her kind of story part of it is. She’s shedding that part of conscience so she can latch on to the, to Alok and to her crew that, we’ll see going forward.

back to top

[00:15:20] The Cast of Characters: what do we think?

Y. M. Nelson: And speaking of her crew, which we kind of talked a little bit about, but I want to make sure we kind of at least get a little more in about these characters.

Thing I do want to say to connect all of this is that if this does become a series, I agree I think Staci said it Marcie agreed that it’s one of those Star Trek series that you don’t really have to be a Trekkie. Which is, again, why I’m probably going to end up giving this two ratings.

And it’s because I’ve talked to you. But you don’t have to be a Trekkie in order to necessarily like it or even follow it, because there’s, not so much nostalgia or whatever going on and it is giving us an episodic feel.

And also, it’s giving us this ensemble of characters that At least in this iteration, for the most part, we’ve never seen characters like this. I mean, yes, we’ve seen a shapeshifter, but we’ve never seen a shapeshifter like this for Trekkies.

Staci: it’s called Star Trek Rejects, that’s what the name of –

Y. M. Nelson: right, exactly! This is kinda, this is kinda like Lower Decks phase two, you know, it’s just like you say, CSI version. Yeah. Lower Decks: Phase Two, but right. The Rejects, right. Or the oh gosh. What is the the DC Oh gosh. I just like Suicide Squad, you know, kinda,

Marcie: the

Y. M. Nelson: feel or whatever. You know, it’s given us all of that. It’s given us all of that. So, what do we think about these cast of characters? Who did we like? Who did we hate? Who do we want to see again?

Staci: Well, I mean, I liked the character, I liked the, but it’s, you don’t get enough of them to, to really have a real good feeling, like, okay, am I going to be connected to them?

I mean, Omari Harwick you know, he looks so good. I mean, just that he’s that male eye candy right there. But you get a glimpse of what his character is. Like when I said, we, when he talks about the eugenics wars and all that and how, old he is.

So, we know he’s going to have history and people that’s going to come back from his past. If they continue a series, people coming back from his past for that. And I would like to see maybe a cameo of you know, Khan or something Khan is because of that if they if they do it.

But everybody it’s something wrong with all of them. I mean, I think because of his eugenics background and he, and they still thinking of the Wrath of Khan kind of a thing. We said we ain’t putting him in a in regular Star Trek. He has to be over here with the reject pile.

And then, Was it Quasi with his I mean, he’s a shape change, which same change I’ve never seen before so I don’t know the history of that because when he did that whole thing, it looked like he was a big ass spider you know that It caught the birds. It’s like what kind of what? What version of that? But when he does would you say he does a brain freeze a brain whatever? and I was like, that’s why he’s in a reject pile because because of that

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah. He has, yeah, he has decision,

Staci: many decisions he gets a glitch, and he gets like, okay, and so that’s why he’s there.

And I have to admit what’s his name, Fuzz, who was the Vulcan suit. The thing I was like, I was annoyed with him initially because I thought he was originally a Vulcan that was crazy or something like they say it, and that, oh no, I, I was like, This! He is he is disparaging the character of all Vulcans. But then you realize that it’s a little nano byte in a machine that’s a Vulcan machine. It’s like, oh, okay. I think better of his, of the character. But oh, and that accent that what Irish, Scottish, whatever the heck he was,

Y. M. Nelson: was a mess.

Staci: top,

Y. M. Nelson: It was a mess.

Staci: it was really over the top. But it was, I guess for me, it was, you know, I wasn’t offended because I’m not Irish, but I’m sure somebody’s like, who is this Lucky Charm? So, who’s on the screen right now? Like, I know somebody’s like, oh, my God, that’s supposed to be my country, you know? But

Y. M. Nelson: boy. Oh.

Staci: I think we lost Marshmallow. Maybe she’ll, she’ll probably come back, but but, you know, but at the same time, even if we see that he’s gone or died, but then he comes back, and I was like, you can’t bring back, he’s not a redemption character, but then you realize it’s his wife. And I was like, okay, you know, if she dies, it’s going to be one of those 15 million kids he was talking about. You know, and she’s going to talk about, you know, and here’s a picture of my

Y. M. Nelson: And he was naming them after like bacteria and Viruses! It

Staci: that. I

Y. M. Nelson: so crazy!

Staci: was like, okay. I streptococcal. He said COVID 19. I mean, it

Y. M. Nelson: know!

Staci: have been like,

Y. M. Nelson: Oh lord.

Staci: but, you know, so again, but. Reject, you know, that character

Y. M. Nelson: exactly. Yes,

Staci: and then was it Rachel? She’s played in some other stuff before that I’ve seen. And of course, she’s basically, she’s the straight man or whatever. The, she’s the the whatchamacallit, but you had. She had to do something to put, they put her in the reject pile because of that. She had to be two of something to put her in the rejects. They’re not going to put you in section 31 if you were actually somebody they want to keep around. So, we’ll

Y. M. Nelson: And, and, and right. And Phillipa said, you did something to get here.

Staci: and

Y. M. Nelson: She said that.

Staci: the only thing I’m really sad about was the first girl that died early on. They killed

Y. M. Nelson: one that was the Delta. I can’t remember what her name was, but her race was, a Deltan, and

Staci: I was like, I didn’t know enough about that. It’s like, oh, I’ll kind of see what that was about.

Oh, and what was it? Was that the

Y. M. Nelson: Zeph was the guy with the armor.

Staci: Yeah, and when they said he had what do they call it? Mechanical dysmorphia or something they

Y. M. Nelson: right! Something crazy! Yeah.

Staci: was like, okay, anyway, you know, not body dysmorphia, but, but whatever.

Meta dysmorphia, whatever they

Y. M. Nelson: right. Meta technical something. Yeah.

Staci: And it’s like, because I am the machine, the machine is me. And I was like, yeah, that machine got you killed. And I mean, granted, he was one of those to me at that point, he was a reject, same as the rest of everybody else.

 I guess what you want out of the, out of the cast that started at the beginning, if you had to kill two people off, I guess those would be the two ones that you would kill off. But again, it was too early to get a real feel for anyone.

At this point, and I think they did. I think that’s the only one that you really did get more of a background on him. And so, you know, and making him another lead. Because he was more of a lead to me than, than what’s her name, Rachel’s character who’s, the straight laced one. Although I think she’s like the unofficial leader. Nah, it’s him. He’s more like gonna be the leader. But but we’ll see.

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah. Marcie, do you have anything to add to our cast of characters? What did you think?

Marcie: No, I, I think Staci summed it up pretty well. I know I like them enough to know I want to get to know them more.

Y. M. Nelson: Okay. I will agree. And I will agree that it is giving ensemble characters and that if this I mean, obviously this was this was Philippa’s episode. This is how we meet these people, so so yeah, we don’t know enough about them. I think I said great caricatures, but we don’t care about any of them.

Now, I was a little harsh. I, yeah, I do have a little bit of a feeling, especially for Alok, because we got that a little bit of his backstory there. And, yeah, I agree. We need to pull Khan in, in some respects. Also, there’s a There’s an actual Khan descendent on Strange New Worlds, so that might be a segue in there. So, yeah. So, we need to get something in there with that.

And with the other characters I said they are a distrusting mess. And I think really when I wrote that was when people were not who they said they were. Marcie said this in the beginning, and I totally agree. It was when they were trying to develop a story that had some twists and turns, I think that was what was trying to happen. It was actually, what it was doing was, it was giving these characters a level of distrust that that I think, that I think messed with me.

I mean, I don’t know how y’all felt about it, but I, it did mess with me, you know, I was like, you know, I don’t like this, right? But it gave them a level of, I can’t really root for anybody, because the one person that I, kinda can root for, well, not really root for, I don’t want to root for for her because, I mean, the woman ate an eyeball in the first five minutes of the, of the show. I mean, Phillipa ate an eyeball, y’all!

Oh my God, I had to look away for that, I was so traumatized. But anyway, I mean I can’t really root for her, but she’s the only one I’m connecting with right now.

And then when we got Alok’s backstory, I kind of connected there as well You know, I actually thought he might have been the Starfleet person Right? You know, I was thinking he was going to kind of be a Sloane kind of character from DS9. And he is kind of giving a little bit of that, but Sloane to me had more Starfleet kind of connections than Alok does. Like You know, Garrett the girl she’s more Starfleet, you know, that we had to throw into section 31.

And that’s the other thing about this, is that if you look at this cast of characters independently, like, as a ensemble, you know, CSI kind of group, or a Suicide Squad or the Rejects kind of group, they’re really cool. But if you’re a Trekkie that has in their minds Section 31 is supposed to be this sleek kind of outside, just outside of good Starfleet kind of thing, you’re not getting that, and you may be a little bit disappointed here.

You know, especially when you have somebody that’s as cunning and manipulative as Philippa Georgiou is. I think that was a little bit of what I was kind of feeling as I was holding on to the little remnants of what I know Section 31 is supposed to be in other episodes.

Marcie: Yeah, and I didn’t, I didn’t have anything to hold

Y. M. Nelson: if you let that go

Marcie: so, I thought it was

Y. M. Nelson: you can see the cast of characters for what it is. And, you can see the potential for funny moments, for mess ups while they’re trying to do stuff. You can see the potential for, mayhem and chaos, people having layers and redemption arcs and all that other kind of stuff happening.

Marcie: Mm hmm.

Staci: Yeah, I can see it being more old school Star Trek, but more of a Star Trek: Next Generation. They did have moments of being funny and stuff like that, versus the newer stuff, it’s like serious, All the time. It’s like, every time there’s a crisis, we’ve got to save the galaxy, we’ve got to save this or that, and there’s always something going on.

And this one Could be less, not saying it’s not going to be good, but it could be potentially a little bit less serious and not, you know, hovering over in the background, “we’re all going to die.” You know, maybe it could be something that’s, you know, just a little bit more fun, hopefully.

And you’re right when you say about the Section 31, because when you see them in previous things, you, I, I thought they would be more like, you know, Federation’s version of the CIA or James Bond version, like sleek and debonair and all that. It’s like, no, it’s more like, like you said, a ragtag team of of, of rejects from this and they’re going to get the job done, but it’s going to be a wild ride to get there if they actually do it.

back to top

[00:28:33] Goodreads-style rating

Staci: Like you said, you might have two different things on how you would rate it. And I guess I would too, depending on how I’m thinking of it. If I’m thinking of it as a standalone, would be one rating. Versus if I think of it as part of the Star Trek universe, which would give me a totally different type of rating for it, for me.

But You know, like I said, I’m glad you mentioned this. Well, I mean, I’m glad this is one of the ones you say, hey, watch this. I’m gonna do a podcast on it. And it made me watch it a second time. Cause I, first time, I don’t know what I was doing. Cause I, you know, Marci knows how I be walking around and doing stuff. while, while on a show. And then I was like, well, let me go ahead and sit down and watch this.

And I was like, and I like, oh, I’ve been, I was like. I missed out a whole lot! Because I didn’t realize that the Vulcan, that’s why he annoyed me at first. I was like, this Vulcan is. I’m just, I’m no. And then I realized because I had walked away and came back still thinking he was a crazy Vulcan and not realizing all that time that it was a little thing inside of him.

 I did not get to pick that up at all. First time I watched because I was going in and out and this time I was like, okay, let me sit down and I gotta watch it watch it. And it’s like, oh, it’s better Yeah

Y. M. Nelson: we don’t want to lose Marcie. She’s having some issues. Let’s see if we could try to get a rating.

So, Marcie so Goodreads rating one star. We didn’t like it. Two stars. It was okay. Three stars. We liked it. Four stars. We really liked it. And five stars. It was amazing. And yes, you can go in between. What do you rate this movie?

Marcie: Gonna give it a 3. 75. I, I enjoyed

Y. M. Nelson: All right.

Marcie: again, I’m watching it with no other knowledge of the franchise. So, I’m watching it purely for what it is and what it could be. Not based on any other tethers to previous segues of, so for me, it was new content, and it was fun. And I would watch more of it. Mm hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: Okay, cool. All right. Staci, what about you? What do you rate it? You were mentioning maybe two ratings.

Staci: you give me the rights one more time

Y. M. Nelson: One star. We didn’t like it. Two stars. It was okay. Three stars. We liked it. Four stars. We really liked it. And five stars. It was amazing.

Staci: if looking at through like the Star Trek perspective like okay If I was just like from that that alone It would be more like maybe a two kind of a thing because it’s not if I was looking at it from a Star Trek like oh my gosh, this is part of Star Trek Universe. If you were actually looking at it, it could be a one if you’re looking from a Star Trek Universe kind of a thing.

And if you only saw it from that perspective, then it’d be like not that great because it’s like this, what does this do with my Star Trek? But, and that’s only if you’re one of those diehard people, I guess, one of those diehard fans.

But since I’m not a diehard fan, and I wouldn’t say, I would never give it a one, but maybe a two if I was a die hard kind of a thing.

But just overall, as watching the show, and then as it being a good point to maybe, watching, I say show, because it’s not even a show. Movie, which I think it should be leading to a show,

Y. M. Nelson: Right.

Staci: I was giving it at least at the least I would say a 3, but it might be a 3. 5, because once I sat down, I’d say right now the first pilot would be a 3, because usually a lot of pilots, I really don’t care much for at first until they start building up, and it’s like, oh, I like the, like the series, but I would say a solid 3, I liked it. We’ll watch it again.

If they, if they do a series on, I was like, okay, I’m gonna start watching the series, that kind of a thing. But it doesn’t have enough character development yet. You know, to me, it was just a glorified episode, not really a movie movie.

And hopefully they will have it as a series so we can get to more about those different characters and all that. But it did help, did hold my interest a second time. So I was like, okay, I need to sit down and watch it. And I was like, oh, okay, this is good.

And of course, you know, as it gets better, it may, if they keep doing episodes of it, you’ll get to, you know, enjoy the other characters better, or, you know, get to understand it better, because right now, to me, it just seems like a vehicle for Michelle Michelle Yeoh, right, at this point. And so hopefully, you know, as it goes on, you’ll have more character development and others can kind of pull the show versus just only her.

Y. M. Nelson: right. Exactly. I’m gonna have to agree with you there. Yeah, if she’s not going to be on other episodes, this is going down the tubes for me a little bit. She’s it because they really set this up for her character is as the vehicle of this whole thing though she may not be the leader of it.

I don’t see her being the leader But I see her being kind of the glue that kind of or at least the bad part of the bad of Section 31. She’s the one, at this point, that can do the most bad stuff. I mean, Alok still has a lot more conscience to him. He’s a tortured hero,

Staci: Yeah, he’s a tortured hero. Most definitely, and I think, he hasn’t killed worlds yet, so –

Y. M. Nelson: right. So he’s not going to be able to get in that real negative head space that they may need to get in to do whatever the dirty work that they have to do.

And I’m going to also give this this two ratings as, as well. And I’m, I’m gonna have to kind of agree with, with Staci. And part of it is because of how I felt after I saw it. And the second rating is I’ve come to it based on how I feel after hearing your discussion, after, you know, talking with y’all. Because I now see it in a different way.

I came into this looking for the next connection from Star Trek: Discovery. I was looking for Easter eggs. Yes, I still, I did find a couple of Easter eggs, y’all. But, I was looking for, you know, the Easter eggs, the nostalgia, I was looking for, where is Bashir gonna come in? Sloan is not Section 31 anymore, because he’s gone, but yeah. I was looking for that. I was looking for that DS9 connection at some point.

And, then, of course, when Alok talks about the eugenics, I’m looking for a Khan connection, of course. So with all of that going on in my head and with the kind of lack of feeling I was having for the characters because of what they were trying to do with the story, I’m giving this one, yeah, like a 1. 5 as a Star Trek fan. And there are people that are gonna go into this just because they like Star Trek.

So, let’s be honest. If you are going into this just because you like Star Trek and everything that Star Trek gives you, if you loved season 3 of Star Trek: Picard, you are gonna hate this. Cuz this is not gonna give you what season 3 of Star Trek: Picard gave you, which is all the feels, right? We saw everything. We had a little nostalgia moment. We went back in time. It was that.

So yeah, Marcie, if you ever want to get into these and binge watch, to me, Star Trek: Picard Season 3, if you want a nostalgia moment. And no, you don’t have to watch Seasons 1 and 2 to get Season 3, because they are really separate, especially season 2. I don’t know what they did with Season 2. That was just a whole separate thing. But Season 3 is almost like they’re like a stand alone series. You don’t have to watch 1 and 2 to know what’s going on in 3. But, if you want a nostalgic moment, Star Trek: Picard season 3. That’s it.

And if you loved that, you will hate this. So you will give this a 1. 5, which is between “I didn’t like it” and “it was okay.” I was not really feeling this, but Michelle, Yeoh, her acting, you just- I mean, the woman is amazing. It’s like, she did this with what I thought was a mess to begin with?

And two, y’all are right, this is like a long episode. So, it’s actually not long enough to really develop these characters because they’re making it seem like an episode. But, it’s too long for kind of what they’re trying to do, and so they have to put all this story and, who, who took this out of this thing, who destroyed this while we’re on this planet? they didn’t have to do all of that, if it was just a regular sized episode, but it’s in that weird space.

But anyway, I had that kind of feeling coming out of it, but after I started talking with you guys with you ladies I’m going to give this a solid 3. 5 for those who are not going into this as Trekkie nerd fans. If you go into this with kind of an open mind, this is a movie that could be leading to this new kind of, maybe possibly crime show in space. Come on! You know?

And not go into it thinking Star Trek, you’re gonna enjoy this. You could see the potential, at least even if you think this, even if you think this movie is messy, you will see the potential in a possible series if they, if they do go along with that.

So I’m giving this two ratings, and that’s why.

back to top

[00:39:04] Bonus: A couple of Easter Eggs

Y. M. Nelson: So like I said, I did see a couple of Easter eggs, so before we go. Well, this is not really an Easter egg, this is just more so of a cameo kind of thing. This was directed by the same director that that directed Star Trek: Discovery.

And at the very end, yes, spoiler, we see see Jamie Lee Curtis, and she’s talking about Turkana, which is the next mission, which is the whole reason why we’re thinking this is leading into a series, because that’s how they’re setting it up at the end. But Turkana 4 is where Tasha Yar grew up. That’s a Federation colony, and it ended up being a total mess. So, we’ll see if they go that route. We’ll see what happens with that. I don’t know how they gonna do that.

But anyway, this you know watching this and then coming here and having this discussion y’all I’m sorry. This is good for me. I Hope y’all have Fun.

Marcie: We did. I learned a

Staci: Always.

Marcie: Mm hmm.

Y. M. Nelson: That’s good. I’m so glad. I’m so glad. Oh gosh. Sometimes I’m like, oh my gosh, what have I told them? Oh gosh. So I’m glad we at least have fun with this one, even if we may have little reservations, but I think, I think overall it was decent.

Staci: Yes, I agree.

Y. M. Nelson: Yeah. All right. So ladies, whatever the next thing is, you know, I have to have y’all back. Thank you for coming.

Staci: Glad to be here.

Y. M. Nelson: Hi, want to get show notes from this and future episodes in your inbox? Then subscribe to Nerdy Romantics Newsletter. At Nerdy Romantics podcast.com/subscribe, nerdy romantics newsletter not only has show notes, but nerdy and romantic wrecks and sneak peeks and exclusives of my spice, nerdy romances and love, love stories.

I love talking sci fi, superheroes, fantasy, and romance books, movies, and shows with my friends. So share this podcast with your nerdy romantic friends. Thanks for listening and for watching.Paragraph text

back to top