Value Subtracted @ ValueSubtracted @startrek.website

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a fully Doctor-lite season.

I mentioned in the latest episode discussion that I'm kind of sick of the "does UNIT exist this week" trend of the last 20 years - a Doctor-lite season would be an interesting way to develop a stable Earth status quo, which I would find very refreshing. I don't care about DW continuity that much, but I do wish they'd commit to something long-term.

I don’t recall who has the international streaming rights for the 2005-22 seasons

It's currently on Amazon Prime in Canada - not sure if that's the case everywhere. Amazon's got deep pockets, and for all his faults, Bezos is said to be a big sci-fi fan...

I know our mod @ValueSubtracted@startrek.website isn’t keen on speculation and Fantasy Football-esque media analyses, so give me a heads up if this is completely OT for this community.

No, it's fair game. I would summarize my dislike of speculation this way:

1. Speculating too much about stories ofte leads to disappointment and resentment when the actual stories go in a different direction.
2. Speculating about ratings and the business aspect of things tends to be a dead end, with people distorting the small amounts of available information to suit their own narrative, whatever that may be.

But neither of these things are completely off-limits, as long as everyone's level-headed and respectful about it.

And I'm pleased to say that this community, small as it may be, is very level-headed and respectful, so far.

Now, on to the meat and potatoes...

The Disney deal was announced in October 2022 - Bob Chapek was running the show, and I believe they were still at the tail end of that period when the media giants were burning money to drive subscriptions. About a month later, Chapek was out and Bob Iger was back in at Disney. By May 2023, the industry had started its ongoing seismic shift, and Disney+ was actively removing content to cut costs.

I think the media landscape has changed so much, in such a short time, that it's anyone's guess what will happen next. Hell, as of this week, He Who Shall Not Be Named has been threatening 100% tariffs on foreign media, whatever the hell that's supposed to mean.

I agree that a "gap year" is inevitable - this is another thing that we're seeing across the industry (I'm looking at you, Star Trek), and I don't think it's a very smart way to keep people engaged. Even if Disney re-ups the deal, it's way too late to get a new series up and running.

I'm also aware of the rumours that Gatwa has already moved on, and...maybe? I guess I'm deliberately not engaging with that stuff. If it happens, it happens. His work on the show has already been strong enough to leave a lasting impression, so I will consider it a success even if it's short.

If Disney doesn't re-up the deal, I don't think it would be too difficult to find another international partner. It's still a very prominent global brand, and I'm really not concerned that the show will be de facto cancelled for any significant period of time.

One last thing...I will go my grave confused as to how and why the Disney deal didn't include the back catalogue. Absolute insanity.

the moral is don't be generous

He was defending the party's stance as recently as March, so my skepticism remains...pretty darned high.

I'm by no means suggesting that the FDA cuts are good (they are, to be very clear, dumb and bad), but in theory, food is still being tested at the state level.

I can only hope that the Government of Canada is aware of the state programs, and whether they are suitably robust.

Here's to those 14 years of complete mismanagement...

I was ready to pack it in after the first, and I'm not convinced the Jets deserved that win after the abysmal away games, but damned if they didn't get it together tonight...eventually.

The incidental music during Thirteen’s run was a little too much like video game ambience loops for my taste.

That's a fair comment - I have thought the same thing, though perhaps in a more positive way. It's almost like playing Metal Gear Solid or something.

I really don’t like the writing trope of “here’s a super powerful group that exists to protect the world, only they have terrible OpSec so it’s easy for people to infiltrate them”.

I'm generally able to accept this sort of thing as a plot device, but yes it's worth acknowledging that it's very silly.

One fun bit that I forgot to mention: the "Albion Channel" being one of the disinformation outlets.

Very clever tie-in with "73 Yards".

Oh, that's a shame. A "meet the parents" scene could have been fun.

Probably cut for time.

Yeah, the outcome was...acceptable, under the circumstances.

Additional Thought The First: if Conrad and his group return in the finale, it could give a very different meaning to "The Reality War"...

Totally fair...though competence isn't what one expects from the right-wing reactionaries.

Conrad and Ruby’s relationship had been seeded as a subplot over a few episodes maybe it would have worked better?

The thing that worked really well for me is that I was naturally inclined not to trust him from the start - I have seen an episode of television before, after all - but they seeded just enough misdirection through Conrad's "desire" to be like the Doctor (which carried through to the promotional interviews) to retain some surprise in the reveal.

I did like the scenes with Ruby’s homefront matriarchy

As much as I think Belinda has been a step up from Ruby, it was very nice to see the whole family again.

What can you do when compassion and empathy simply bounces off the person you’re trying to reach? That is a very real and current question, and I’m sort of glad that the show didn’t try to answer that neatly for the sake of a feelgood ending.

It managed to handle things very deftly, while still being very blunt in its messaging (which I don't think is a bad thing). Honestly, coming off of an election in Canada less than a week ago, the whole thing kind of turned my stomach. Really visceral stuff. I can see this being an episode that I return to throughout the week, and I might have more thoughts to share later on.

One thing I really appreciated was the ambiguity of Kate, and how far she's willing to go when the Doctor's not around. They have a fine line to walk in the department, but I think they did it really well here.

One thing I don't appreciate is the inconsistent handling of UNIT over the years. They've got helicarriers, then they're gone, then they're back, then their budget has been slashed, now they're back again...I really hope this episode (and the upcoming spinoff) marks a final commitment to keeping them around as a player. We don't need to see them repeatedly destroyed and resurrected like some kind of Gallifrey.

Flood Watch 2025

"Governor" was capitalized in the subtitles, so I think we've got a name, along with a pretty solid indication that she's a Time Lord.

I don't see any glaring incompatibilities with Kinew's agenda. The "build, baby, build" attitude is something they've shared as of late.

Another thing to consider is that many people simply aren't that engaged, and the news ecosystem on both sides of the border has deteriorated to the point where it's very easy to go through life with bad information, or no information at all.

It's probably not that hard for a low-information voter to be swayed by big talk, even if they're not a cultist.

I think it's a nuanced question - I've heard that the Cuban community in Florida is very Republican because they're seen as stronger against the Cuban regime.

In other cases, I think people are very willing to vote for people who promise to help them with their most immediate problems (regardless of how credible those promises are), and overlook the rest.

And we should never underestimate the willingness of people to close a door behind them once they've gotten through it.