Antimatter Pod

192. Chekhov's T'Pol (LD 5.09)

Anika and Liz are pretty sure our alternate universe selves are well-rested, organised and completely on top of their lives. But we are here to be tired, messy and talk about the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks, "Fissure Quest"!

• While Anika was out touching grass, Liz was getting spoiled for every single surprise in this episode (and also getting blocked on Bsky by Mike McMahan)
• Jolene Blalock, our queen
• Curzon: why?
• "I don't mean to make this a carrot podcast, I just think they're a very overrated root vegetable." 
• Jokes about Harry never being promoted are tired, especially when we know the reason was Rick Berman's racism -- which makes this episode's twist a bit … yikes
• Who gets to be openly ambitious? And who has to keep their head down and wait patiently for recognition to be bestowed upon them? 
• Liz spoils the end The Day of the Jackal (2024) at 23:46, so deploy your skip=30 button if you need it
• FINALLY a Starfleet with a place for Anika
• Did the Harrys Kim hook up? Yes, obviously

191. The Coffee Machine Cleaning Cycle of the Federation (LD 5.07 and 5.08)

Anika and Liz are briefly trapped on a world where months pass in the space of seconds, which gives us a lot of time to talk about how great Carol Freeman is.

Yes, we're talking about Star Trek: Lower Decks' "Fully Dilated" and "Upper Decks". We liked one of these episodes! Mostly!

• "Fully Dilated" was a personal attack aimed at us
• Why is Tendi so out of character this season? 
• The Boimler and Rutherford subplot felt like a throwback to TNG_S8, but what works as a 140-character tweet is less successful spread over 22 minutes of animated comedy
• If you're going to put T'Lyn in the T'Pol role and then make boob jokes, they should be … funny
• "Do you know how mid an episode has to be for Data to be our favourite part?"
• We liked "Upper Decks" a lot! 
• But doctors withholding pain medication is not funny
• Freeman continues to be the best captain

190. Bluey for Trekkies (LD 5.06)

Anika and Liz mediate a war between sentient shapes, and try not to ask awkward questions like, "Why do you even HAVE genders?"

Okay, no, we're discussing Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 6, "Of Gods and Angles"!

• Another round of the "accept what makes you different" moral, which is not bad, but more suited to Bluey than an allegedly sophisticated comedy for adults
• (Bluey is successful for the same reason that Star Trek is successful! Competence porn and aspirational levels of decency!)
• "They could do anything, but they have no imagination!" is a BOLD choice of dialogue in a season this weak
• Teen pregnancy? The Humourless Feminist Killjoy Hour is here to ask: is Star Trek entering its natalist era?
• Liz talks really authoritatively about Romeo and Juliet for someone who hasn't read or watched it since 1997

189. A Real Rick Berman Kind of Horror (LD 5.04 and 5.05)

Anika and Liz visit the Klingon homeworld and Starbase 80, and Anika does not partake in blood wine or corn dogs because these episodes are not inclusive for vegetarians.

Yes, we're talking about Star Trek: Lower Decks episodes "A Farewell to Farms" and "Starbase 80?!", and we have a few things to say...

• "A Farewell to Farms" was fine
• Mary Chieffo deserves better
• It's time for Liz to admit the truth: she has a soft spot for Dr Migleemo
• Is Migleemo Freeman's Tuvok?
• It's very possible that there are external reasons that season 5 of Lower Decks hasn't been working for us
• The SNWification of Star Trek since 2022
• Starbase 80 is symptomatic of an empire in decay
• What is Mariner's arc in season 5?
• We are here to ship Mariner/Kassia

188. The Humourless Feminist Killjoy Happy Hour (LD 5.03)

Anika and Liz visit a fabulous resort, where we get to sit by the pool and relax while nothing bad happens and no one is weirdly stalked by their ex-girlfriend.

We're discussing Star Trek: Lower Decks episode "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel", and spoilers, we aren't fans!

• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel did not deserve this
• "My shoulders went up around my ears and stayed there for the entire episode."
• Jennifer is abusive, and it's weird how the show (and the fandom!) seems to consider this zany and delightful
• This is not a great season for Tendi's characterisation so far
• It feels like Mariner and Tendi's arcs ended in season 4 and the show doesn't quite know what to do with them now
• But also, less than week to the US election and Lower Decks is like, "How about an episode where a Black woman on the cusp of becoming a leader is mistreated and everyone cheers?" Guys.
• An Apocalypse Now parody? Groundbreaking.
• Anika: "I apologise to people who liked this episode."
  Liz: "I don't."
• How much has season 5 been affected by the industrial unrest across the entertainment industry? There are so many barriers to making good television at the best of times! Also, Liz talks about season 5 of Babylon 5 (sorry, Anika)

187. Free-Range Organic Facial Hair (LD 5.01 and 5.02)

Anika and Liz meet their alternate timeline duplicates, who are exactly the same except Fake Anika is super right-wing and Fake Liz has a luscious beard.

It's time! For the Star Trek: Lower Decks fifth season premiere!

Liz: I don't ship Rutherford/Tendi/T'Lyn
61 seconds later…
Liz: I ship Rutherford/Tendi/T'Lyn

• Remembering Jeri Taylor
• New York Comic Con: Anika has been in the presence of greatness (Carol Kane)
• Is Lower Decks getting tired, or is it Liz who is too tired to feel joy? 
• Beard Boimler and Otherford
• We are learning SO MUCH about Orion culture! 
• INCOMING HUMOURLESS FEMINIST KILLJOY MOMENT: Maybe October 2024 is not the right time for a subplot about controlling what a pregnant woman does?
• Anika has a Bointer for you: always try to avoid anything that makes you sound like J. D. Vance

 

186. Cottagecore Retirement (Prodigy 2.19 and 2.20)

Anika and Liz save the world, and then settle down for some light gardening in a giant midwest McMansion. Yes, the time has come to discuss the season (series?) finale of Star Trek: Prodigy, "Ouroboros" parts 1 and 2.

• Anika was really onto something when she said Rok-Tahk is the new Wesley
• What is a good age to start watching Star Trek with kids?
• "At no point does Prodigy talk down to its audience."
• Anika's two fictional sons (Dal and Jack) in one episode!
• This podcast is tough on Indiana, tough on the causes of Indiana
• Why do so many series captains own property on Earth? 
• Characters from DS9 and Picard we want the Prodigy kids to meet
• Saving Holo Janeway

185. How To Train Your Loom (Prodigy 2.17 and 2.18)

Anika and Liz send a bunch of kids off on a black ops mission, which is a cool and normal thing to do and definitely something a healthy maternal role model would do. Oh yeah, we're discussing the Star Trek: Prodigy episodes "Brink" and "Touch of Gray", including...

• Kids are gonna learn about plausible deniability sooner or later
• It was always going to be Ascensia versus Gwyn
• And Ascencia versus Janeway
• Girl you have too many nemeses, put one back
• Wesley's plan fails because he didn't expect Gwyn to prioritise her father. WHICH SAYS A LOT ABOUT HIM. 
• (A fun question: how much of Picard's relationship with his parents did he replicate with Wesley, and how does that impact Wesley's relationship with the kids now?)
• Like Discovery, Prodigy has a really fluid hierarchy among the kids
• Liz threatens to write a book called Management Lessons from Michael Burnham and Dal R'El 
• We are thoroughly dismayed to find ourselves shipping Holo Janeway/the Doctor

184. Janeway/Chakotay Is The New Janeway/Chakotay (Prodigy 2.15 and 2.16)

Anika and Liz are told to pack it all up and go home, Starfleet Command will be taking care of the podcasting from here on out. And we were absolutely going to obey, but fortunately some plot intervened. We're discussing Star Trek: Prodigy's "Ascension" part 1 and 2, including...

• Dal and Zero's arcs reach their respective climaxes
• The Voyager crew were also the Rogue Misfit Squadron
• The Doctor is at his best in a low-pressure environment, but he's programmed to think he thrives under pressure
• Dal speedruns his own arc in miniature and comes out the other side
• Zero: they're a hero, actually
• Flashbacks to "Such Sweet Sorrow" part 2 had Liz running to Moopsy for support
• Prodigy tells more overt queer stories than SNW, which is actually kind of alarming
• We care about shipping, not ships

183. Warlord Janeway (Prodigy 2.13 and 2.14)

Anika and Liz stumble through a series of alternate universes, including the one where we like "A Tribble Called Quest" and the one where we're good at podcasting and don't go off on long tangents about shipping. (That's a lie. That universe doesn't exist.)

• Liz has a hot take: she does not like "A Tribble Called Quest" and thinks it has an accidental forced-birth subtext
• The three Dad Genders: Girl Dad, Boy Dad, Scientist Dad
• Maybe we need to stop making tribble episodes
• MOVING ON TO THE EPISODE WE ACTUALLY LIKED
• The Jellico In Command Timeline
• Okona and Chakotay: the deadbeat dad and the dad who stepped up
• Did Captain Tuvix murder Janeway? 
• Who would win in a fight between Mirror Janeway and Emperor Georgiou? 
• Chakotay, formerly Hot Chakotay, is at his least attractive ever when he's reunited with Janeway, and that serves a purpose! 
• The best-known Evil Overlord list, as reproduced on TV Tropes
• The Antimatter Pod Shipping News! 
  • Mirror Janeway and the search across the multiverse for the Chakotay with the brain cell
  • Chakotay/Holo Janeway
  • Zero/Maj'el
  • Dal/Gwyn and the parallels with Janeway/Chakotay