Antimatter Pod

95. The Tragedy of Darth Greg the Wise (Disco 1.05)

'Twas a few days before Christmas, and here on Discord, Anika and Liz got together to talk about Star Trek and politely overlook Liz's total and absolute inability to use rhyme or meter.

• It turns out we were onto something thematically relevant with our calls for prison abolition!
• "The Examples" feels like TNG or Voyager, and this time we mean it as a compliment
• (It feels so much like a Voyager episode that we have to debate whether or not the character played by an First Nations actor was an ethnic stereotype…)
• Ruon Tarka is a great foil for Stamets and a … temptation? For Book?
• We have a lot of feelings about the USS Janeway and the NSS T'Pau
• Was Zora's development of emotions triggered by the anomaly? Is this set-up for Calypso? We have WILD SPECULATION and VERY LITTLE EVIDENCE!
• Liz is not entirely certain how to pronounce "eschew" but that's not going to stop her from trying!
• Prediction: the anomaly looks like an eye because we are going to be asked to empathise with it

94. Anika‘s Green Son (Disco 4.04)

Liz and Anika put on their dress uniforms and turn up to sit quietly and look official at a diplomatic event. 

…but we're not very good at that, so instead we talk about: 

• The departing character, our feelings and our hopes
• This is an episode about Michael using her middle child powers
• Vulcans love drama almost as much as they love logic, and we are HERE for it
• Anika is delighted to see Hugh in action as Discovery's therapist
• Are we due for someone else's planet to asplode?
• Could this be Discovery's final season? Liz has an idea for how it should end -- Anika is not impressed.
  

93. Illogical Real Estate Scams (Disco 4.03)

It's a Qowat Milat road trip! Pack your sword, moisturise your hands and join Anika and Liz as we talk about "Choose to Live"!

• Actually we did not love this episode and feel slightly bad about it (but maybe the writers should feel worse?)
• PRESIDENT RILLAK DID NOTHING WRONG, Liz has a powerpoint presentation and an interpretive dance to persuade you if you disagree
• We are once again calling for the abolition of the carceral state
• We don't know enough about the Federation OR Ni'Varan justice systems to understand why Michael disagrees with Rillak, and that's kind of a problem
• We have a lot of complaints about this episode, but we love and adore its depiction of Vulcans
• Spock's World by Diane Duane, a novel which is unexpectedly relevant to this episode of Discovery
• Michael has chemistry with EVERYONE and it's a problem (unless you're a multishipper, which we are)

92. Greg! The Anomaly!! (Disco 4.02)

Paramount is an extremely clever and foresighted institution, which is why now part of the world has Discovery (sort of), while Americans get to squeeze it in alongside Thanksgiving. But Anika and Liz overcame the logistical challenges! And we are here to talk about...

• The anomaly's name is Greg now
• We talk a lot about grief in this ep, but also how Liz thinks Michael and Book should have a baby, which is a totally legitimate solution to any problem
• Michael Burnham is allowed to cry, it is good that she is capable of crying, and the logic bros and manbabies of fandom need to get over it
• Star Trek is about grief and sex, and has been since "The Cage"
• Wilson Cruz is remarkable as both a person and an actor and we are lucky to have him

91. Bad Paramount, No Biscuit (Prodigy 1.05 and Disco 4.01)

Anika and Liz are UNDEFEATED by Paramount's shenanigans! We are HERE to talk about the fifth episode of Prodigy and the season 4 premiere of Discovery, and no one can stop us!

• Discovery has left Paramount Plus and basically Paramount has squiddled so much good will in one move, we are confused
  
• It's possible that two new Star Treks in 24 hours is too much
• There was not enough kissing in any of these episodes!
• Is Murf a person or a pet? (And if they're a pet, that is TOTALLY valid but we think Rok-Tahk might also like a puppy.)
• Does Michael Burnham need to be put in the James Kirk box?
• "And that's why we have to destroy capitalism."
• Book is Princess Leia (yes, this does make Michael Han Solo)
• We discuss our least favourite characters on Discovery; their identities may shock and enrage you.
• We don't love that someone is questioning Michael's capacity yet again, but that aside, we LOVE President Rillak and offer her the highest possible Antimatter Pod compliment: she reminds us of both Seska and Kai Winn.
• We have hair, make-up and costume notes.
• Saru is in this episode.

As a protostar is born, a planet is asploded. Or something.

90. Janeways All The Way Down (Prodigy 1.04)

Liz and Anika execute a flawless landing and hang out talking about episode 4 of Star Trek: Prodigy! Along the way, we talk about how:

• We're glad we don't have to cover two Star Treks at once, but we're gonna miss these characters when Prodigy goes on hiatus
• Janeway is a week old and also a single mother and we love her
• Every single character is an orphan with a tragic backstory (or a hologram) and we have a lot of feelings!
• We should be more like Rok-Tahk
• The Alice in Wonderland of it all
• Connections between Star Treks
• Anika has an extremely controversial Garak opinion and will be recording future episodes from Nerd Protective Custody

89. Clippy Nostalgia (Prodigy 1.03)

Anika and Liz are here to drink holographic coffee and talk about episode 3 of Star Trek: Prodigy ... and they're all out of coffee.

• Long Janeway is Clippy, and we're sort of into it
• The kids who choose their roles and the kids whose roles are given to them
• It's wild that (adult) viewers are criticising Dal for mistrusting authority and not being a perfect Starfleet cadet, and there are also some racial undertones
• Likewise, Gwyn has done terrible things and has bad opinions, but she is also at the beginning of her journey to learn better
• The Federation is a classless utopia, yadda yadda yadda, but let's talk about how the Tellarites are sort of working class and marginalised
• Why is Paramount so bad at merchandising Star Trek?
• They're also missing a great opportunity to introduce kids to science!
• ALSO there should be two prequel junior novels, by known middle grade authors, on shelves by Christmas, how is Paramount so bad at this?
• Dal doesn't trust authority, but Star Trek fandom kind of loves authority too much
• 42:29: discussion of real life rape and murder, and the use of the carceral state as a tool to abuse Black children
• In conclusion: imprisonment is bad and redemption stories are good, and also is anyone else excited for the prospect of Team Protostar meeting Seska's kid or the Lizard Babies or any of the other many children Voyager abandoned in the delta quadrant?

 

88. Murf Slime Possibilities (Prodigy 1.01)

It's time … for brand new Star Trek! Anika and Liz sit down to talk about Star Trek: Prodigy, and discuss: 

• It's a little bit Star Warsy … but we think that's a good thing
• Star Trek has a reputation for being extremely serious, and its fandom for being utterly humourless, and Prodigy is taking Star Wars and MCU fans and showing them that's not true
• Save the cat (no, please, save that poor kitten!)
• We love and adore Gwyn, a character who was practically made for us
• The darkness of children's stories
• How did all these alpha quadrant species end up in a prison mine in the delta quadrant? We smell shenanigans!
• Angus Imrie's Emma Thompson impression
• Anika's theory as to how Drednok is a Jason Isaacs character

It's the episode where we are definitely shipping Dal/Gwyn!

87. Boimler‘s Everything

Anika and Liz catch up on New York Comic-Con and the second half of Lower Decks season 2. Which … we loved! 

We talk about: 

• Anika's NYCC experience
• A new Discovery trailer! Gosh, people have awfully strong opinions about the Ferengi make-up…
• Serenading the cast
• Liz loves the Federation president and has pre-forgiven her for any war crimes she might do.
• Prodigy's goal is to welcome new people to Star Trek without making them watch hundreds of hours of TV and movies, and we are HERE for it.
• We wound up LOVING the rest of Lower Decks season 2
• ...except the Pakleds
• We love Boimler now? Like, a lot? 
• Liz's confession: "I'm a Doopler."
• We loved "I, Excretus" so much that Anika can't talk about it without laughing!
• We want Captain Freeman to command the Enterprise
• Anika fangirls Dawnn Lewis

It's the episode where Liz has so many last-minute thoughts that this is basically the end of Return of the King, in Star Trek podcast form

86. Big Yikes (And Big Yucks)

Liz and Anika talk about Kes, a character we loved more than Voyager's writers did.

• Kes did not even get an entry in her own right in the Voyager character bible
• We swore we weren't going to use Kes's episode to talk about Neelix, but seriously: why is Neelix?
• In fact, why are all Kes's stories about men? 
• Anika's home for wayward narratives
• How Soji is Kes 2.0
• Everyone is wrong about Elogium except Liz (okay, and Anika)
• We had to cut a long discussion about how great Tuvok is because THIS IS NOT AN EPISODE ABOUT THE MEN IN KES'S LIFE
• Any situation which can be compared with the end of Breaking Dawn is probably bad
• Fury hits REALLY differently now we know more about Lien's departure
• COSTUMING, including our '90s aesthetics and a terrible quote from costumer Robert Blackman

Episodes to watch: 

• Elogium (an episode about Neelix deciding if he's ready for Kes to have a baby)
• Cold Fire (an episode about a guy recruiting Kes for his cult)
• Warlord (a man possesses Kes's body)
• Darkling (the Doctor is very concerned about Kes falling in love)
• Before and After (it's actually about Kes! Just don't think too much about Ocampa and human co-existence…)
• The Gift (an episode about Seven of Nine where Kes decides it's time to leave Voyager)
• Fury (but don't feel like you actually have to watch it to listen to this episode, Liz certainly didn't bother)