Antimatter Pod

231. Parall'rels (DSC 1.04)

Anika and Liz are petsitting a tardigrade while we discuss the fourth episode of Star Trek: Discovery's first season, "The Butcher's Knife Care's Not For The Lamb's Cry". This episode introduces Admiral Cornwell, and we are gonna be so cool about that. You wouldn't believe how cool and chill we are. 

• This is decidedly not one of Discovery's stronger scripts
• "Lorca is so clearly flagged as evil," we said back in 2017, "that there absolutely has to be more to it than that." Anyway…
• Michael's skills and flaws are all on full display here
• "I also do not respect Saru." 
• Okay, but why is Saru the first officer? He frankly does not seem up to the job. Is Lorca keeping him around as a snack? 
• "Let's talk about Elon Musk."
• Discovery Stop Killing Off Women Of Colour Challenge
• Michael and L'Rell: parallels (parall'rells)

230. Michael's Adventures In Wonderland (DSC 1.03)

Anika and Liz continue their tour of Discovery's first season with "Context Is For Kings", an episode which introduces a whole lot of new regulars and dares to ask: is it possible to like Saru less? It's time to go down the rabbit hole as we discuss:  

• You are not gonna believe this, but Michael Burnham is the protagonist of Star Trek: Discovery. I know. Huge if true. 
• But Gabriel Lorca thinks he's the main character of multiple universes.
• Ellen Landry: one of the all-time worst people to wear a Starfleet uniform, and we are fascinated by her.
• Lorca absolutely practised his introduction to Michael in the mirror, possibly while flexing, because he's a monster, but he's also a giant dork

229. Stupid Sexy Sarek (DSC 1.01 and 1.02)

Remember 2017? Taylor Swift released Reputation. Kendall Jenner fixed racism with a Pepsi ad. And Star Trek returned to the small screen with the launch of Discovery. 

Anika and Liz go back in time to revisit the series which led us to become friends and launch a podcast ... and we are excited! We're starting with "The Vulcan Hello" and "The Battle at the Binary Stars", in which Michael Burnham has a very bad day. 

• "I am one of the first 500 people to sign up for CBS All Access. Which is a dubious claim."
• These episodes are not bad, but they are a terrible introduction to the series, both in terms of its ongoing tone and themes, and in terms of making people want to see more
• "Can I just say? T'Kuvma could get it."
• We are not opposed to subtitles, but the specific "Klingon" font used by CBS All Access was straight up hard to read
• Does the premiere ask too much of the audience? Both in terms of asking them to empathise with complex characters they've just met, and also in having basic media literacy?
• (Michael Burnham Did Not Start The War.)
• Saru's relentless negativity makes him a difficult character to like
• Returning to our roots as The Sarek Podcast
• The Klingons are MAGA, but they're also very Brexit-era Britain
• We are once again criticising the Federation's carceral state

228. DoctorVision (VOY 3.22)

Anika and Liz, two people with experience getting too attached to fictional characters and then mourning their deaths for 900 years, convene on the holodeck to discuss Star Trek: Voyager's "Real Life" ... and the cancellation of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. 

• We are sad and angry! 
• What does Paramount even want from Star Trek?
• "This episode is two B plots in search of an A plot." 
• "Conceptually, it's great. In execution, it's very Jeri Taylor (derogatory)."
• B'Elanna adds "chaos" to the Doctor's program, but it sure is a coincidence that the algorithm "randomly" selects for scary Klingons infiltrating the Doctor's white suburban sanctum!
• "Everyone has a go at reprogramming the Doctor's family" - mourning the arc we never got

227. Moving at the Speed of Plot (SFA 1.10)

Anika and Liz toast some marshmallows in the Atrium's brand new open fireplace (Nus Braka: Interior Decorator) and discuss the first season finale of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, "Rubincon". 

• A finale where the good guys don't fire a single shot, and where we apply the lessons learned through the whole season
• Stakes? Too high? Just high enough? Is Star Trek actually good at telling small scale stories? 
• "What is Starfleet?" Caleb finally gives Anika a satisfying answer. 
• A handsome, arrogant guy with neglectful parents and a crush on a Klingon? Darem has been Tom Paris all along! 
• Nus is too solipsistic and misogynistic to realise that Anisha isn't on his side
• Anisha was never the villain, but she is an antagonist, and with good reason
• Nahla, Anisha and restorative justice
• Nahla punching Nus: ma'am, you do not get to have little a police brutality as a treat, that felt ill-considered and out of character

226. Away Team To Planet Star Wars (SFA 1.09)

Anika and Liz don their finest cloaks, hoods and masks and beam down to a planet we've seen a few times before to find Anisha Mir and discuss the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's second season, "300th Night".

• We know the second semester goes by fast, but this is ridiculous!
• Caleb Did Nothing Wrong
• Genesis is wrong about Caleb, but in an understandable way
• Sam 2.0 is a little more complicated, and that's a good thing! 
• The following actors are underrated: Sandro Rosta, Tig Notaro. That is all
• Lura hasn't been around much in the second half of the season, and obviously the role requires heavy make-up and discomfort … so PROPOSAL: Lura Thok Animated Series
• The trip to Planet Star Wars hits a lot of racist alien planet tropes AND features lazy costuming (after we recorded, we learned from Avery Plewes' Insta that her costume plans were impacted by the FedEx strike and she had to improvise, so, um, sorry, Avery!)
• Venari Ral Toastmasters
• "You're music." Caleb can break up with us ANY day
• Nahla/Anisha (enemies to lovers, slow burn, co-parenting, hate sex, there was only one Caleb)

225. The Liberal Arts Agenda (SFA 1.08)

Anika and Liz watch Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's "The Life of the Stars" and have a little cry. Featuring a special guest appearance by Bradley Whitford and Liz reads a brief excerpt from Discipline by Randa Abdel-Fattah. 

• We got Star Trekked. We got Our Towned. They got us RIGHT in the feels.
• The women that time forgot
• How much agency has Tarima had in her recovery? It seems like not much!
• Did Liz totally misread the Tarima allegory? Banshees and mental illness and maybe you can spend so much time looking for the allegory that you miss the story?
• "Stealth trauma counselling" isn't the MOST unethical use of psychology in Star Trek, but we have raised our eyebrows!
• At no point did we think Sam would die, but ALSO we were on the edge of our seats through this entire plotline
• "Not holding Sam's hand felt like a war crime."
• Us a few weeks ago: "Sam's makers feel like an allegory for helicopter parents." This week: helicopter parents fail to build resilience in their children
• The Tarima-Caleb-Genesis love triangle is handled … really maturely? What if you were attracted to someone and simply chose not to do anything about it? 

224. Queen of Fishland (SFA 1.07)

Anika and Liz take a quick trip to the Khionian Realm to attend Darem's wedding, then follow along as Caleb and Genesis get up to hijinks. We're watching Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's "Ko'Zeine", and discussing: 

• Um. Did we make this episode happen? 
• It's a spring break episode, but no girls are going wild, no one is going to the beach (except Kyle, alone), and none of the usual cliches are deployed
• Except the Star Trek Wedding Cliches, which we do love to see subverted, what if this time a man was passively going along with everything? What if there was a little less gender? What if Jay-Den wore a beaded gown? 
• Darem and Genesis continue to be mirror images
• The Caleb and Genesis show! Are we … meant to be shipping them? Remember when Liz was like, "There's no way we're meant to be shipping Spock and La'an, that would be really stupid"? We remember. 
• Genesis and toxic perfectionism
• Caleb, Genesis and Darrem: all command-coded in different ways, with different problems to overcome

223. Imzadi-coded (SFA 1.06)

Anika and Liz go out on a training exercise that definitely won't go horribly wrong! We're discussing Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's "Come, Let's Away", and talking about...

• We really like how the season slowed down and gave us some slice of life stories and heavy characterisation -- and now, at the midpoint of the season, everything changes
• This is a great episode for exploring Nahla, but Anika has had enough of Nus Braka
• It's time to face facts: Admiral Vance is pretty, but he's not clever
• Nus Braka versus Osyraa: we firmly believe the only reason he's as powerful as he is now is that her death created a vacuum
• Comics and popular culture as art, as inspiration, as propaganda; uh, is it bad when your fun Star Trek for teens starts referencing Grave of the Fireflies?
• (But it's weird that Tales from the Frontier had no female characters, right? RIGHT?)
• Women's voices are heavily policed and criticised, so Tarima's power is interesting
• Vance is a 2020s centrist: he likes the idea of having ideals, but isn't quite sure how to go about putting them in action. Is that unfair? Will Liz ever be able to talk about Vance without bringing up Rayner? Is it wrong to ship Vance/Braka?

222. Tumblr Star Trek (SFA 1.05)

Every now and then, we at Antimatter Pod ask ourselves: is are we due for a DS9 rewatch?

And Starfleet Academy wants us to know: the answer is always yes. 

We're talking about episode 5 of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, "Series Acclimation Mil", an episode which dares to ask: is there such a thing as too much fan service? 

• Four episodes of SFA have aired at the time of recording, we check in on the fandom (and have a little rant about media literacy)
• Does "Series Acclimation Mil" prioritise fanservice over the new viewer?
• Liz: "It's giving 'These Are The Voyages…' (complimentary?)"
• The adult plotline feels … mean and incomplete?
• Sam is dealing with being a homeschooled kid off to college, and helicopter parents who can't let her go, and in some ways, hers is a first-gen immigrant story
• Sam's story is also about the journey undergraduates take in their education, from learning facts to synthesising disparate resources and developing original research
• Hey kids! Don't do 12 shots in one night! Your Antimatter Pod Aunties are here to remind you to have fun and drink responsibly!