Antimatter Pod

179. This Race Could Have Been An Email (Prodigy 2.06 and 2.07)

Anika and Liz hit a speedbump with their recording schedule (stupid jobs) and then hit a speedbump with Prodigy in the form of ... two episodes that we did not entirely love? Is that even possible? We're here to talk about episodes 6 and 7 of Star Trek: Prodigy's second season: "Identity Crisis" and "The Fast and the Curious"...

• Both of these episodes are mainly about putting the pieces in place and setting up threads for later
• What type of characters are allowed to be audacious and ambitious? 
• Does Prodigy have a problem with body diversity and same-face? 
• Zero/Ma'jel and the power of being chosen by someone instead of being thrown together by circumstances
• Anika has a new favourite Andorian
• Dr Noum: great at work-life balance, maybe not so great at … his job
• "I'm going to say something controversial and brave."
• We're not NOT shipping Gwyn/Ma'jel

178. Childless Dog Ladies (Prodigy 2.05)

When it doubt, Anika and Liz seek advice from a whale. Yes, we're talking about the Star Trek: Prodigy episode "Observer's Paradox"!

• Kathryn Janeway pours a shot of espresso into a larger cup of coffee and then gives it to a teenager; she should not be allowed to care for children
• Murf definitely knows everything about the USS Discovery
• After thirty years, Chakotay is finally linked to a real Indigenous nation: the Nicarao people of Central America
• If we're not meant to be shipping Janeway/Chakotay, then why does this episode exist?
• The Antimatter Pod Shipping News: Anika has a terrible new OTP
• We have questions about the Doctor's holonovels, but ALSO romance novels are an important force for marginalised groups getting their work in front of audiences
• When the adult in the room is a whale

177. Nebula Zoom Call (Prodigy 2.04)

After some minor timeline mishaps, Anika and Liz finally stop to read Temporal Mechanics 101! Yes, we're discussing the fourth episode of Star Trek: Prodigy's second season, including...

• Intertextuality within the Star Trek canon
• Ma'jel upsets the group dynamic in a fun way -- every time a Star Trek starts getting stale, they should add a young Vulcan woman to the cast
• The binge model has robbed us of the joy of speculating wildly about who the mysterious benefactor is
• Ilthuran is not a regular dad, he's a cool dad! AND WE HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT HIM
• The Doctor is so well-used in Prodigy that we're more positive about his joining Starfleet Academy than we would have been a month ago!
• The Antimatter Pod Shipping News
• An interlude where we stop to dunk on Sarek for a while #OurBrand

176. Jankom Pog Politely Disagrees (Prodigy 2.03)

Anika and Liz attempt to change the timeline so Paramount never dropped Prodigy and we got to enjoy each episode week by week … but alas, we did not pay attention in Temporal Mechanics 101. 

We're discussing Star Trek: Prodigy's "Who Saves the Saviors", including…

• Rok-Tahk knows when to keep her mouth shut and when to tattle, and also has done nothing wrong (ever, in her entire life)
• Dal has never watched Star Trek and isn't about to start now
• We have conflicting feelings about birds, and Liz drops some Doctor Who lore
• Tysses and Noum are the Married Mean Gays that Star Trek has needed for eternity. Yes, we just made that up. But it's canon in our hearts. And we would subscribe to their podcast.
• This isn't even the first time Chakotay has abandoned a bunch of kids in the Delta Quadrant!
• Why is everyone so determined to put Janeway and Chakotay in parental roles when it's clear they would both be very bad at it?
• Jankom represents some of Star Trek's best disability rep ever
• Janeway is deeply flawed, and that's good writing

175. Gwyndala's Dad Has Got It Goin' On (Prodigy 2.01 and 2.02)

Anika and Liz sign up for an internship, accidentally steal a ship, and … well, we're discussing the second season premiere of Star Trek: Prodigy! 

(Please note we have seen the whole season, and although we make some very virtuous remarks about sticking to the episodes at hand, we cannot be trusted to respect the Temporal Prime Directive.)

• The binge model and Star Trek
• Dal versus the education system
• Sexualising the Diviner
• Zero's story is both a trans narrative and a disability narrative 
• The romances in this series are super low key and free of inherent drama … but would there be a bigger fandom if the show provided more fodder for ship wars? Is that better? Or worse? 
• Jankom and therapy and Dr Noum
• Rok-Tahk, rules and Liz's Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead trauma

174. The Puzzle is the People (Discovery 5.10)

Anika and Liz get all dressed up to attend a wedding. They just have to figure out the meaning of life first. Easy, right?

It's a very special episode as we discuss the series finale of Star Trek: Discovery, "Life, Itself"!

• We thought we were ready for Discovery to end, but we were wrong
• Liz suffered a finale-related injury and Anika has wine
• The Sega Star Trek: The Next Generation game (and also Jenny Nicholson's four-hour video essay about Disney's Galactic Starcruiser experience)
• It feels like they were setting up Primarch Tahal as the big villain for season 6
• We have even more feelings about Rayner than we do about the Galactic Starcruiser video
• Moll's ending is not what we expected, but we like it
• Discovery streaming movies when?
• The epilogue! The Star Trek: Legacy we deserve!

173. Progenitor-Aged Whiskey (Discovery 5.09)

Anika and Liz put buckets on their head and infiltrate a Breen ship, pausing along the way to have a serious personal conversation. We're discussing the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Discovery (WE ARE NOT READY), "Lagrange Point"! Including...

• What sort of ending do we want for Moll? 
• We already have a crush on Primarch Tahal
• Michael and Book parallel Michael and Ash in "Into the Forest I Go" - is infiltrating an enemy ship a date? 
• We are briefly interrupted by an appearance from Anika's cat's butt
• Paul and Hugh have been sidestepping drama all season and it's great? 
• Saru: relationship role model
• We're not NOT shipping Rayner/Tilly

172. Being Inner Lit (Discovery 5.08)

Liz has done it AGAIN: she forgot to move her microphone. She's audible but a little echoey for the first 10 minutes, before she has a horrible realisation. 

Anika and Liz are spending their vacation AT THE LIBRARY, where they are checking out some books and checking in on Michael Burnham.

• Every single thing in this episode is Sarek's fault
• Libraries and archives are never apolitical
• Primarch Ruhn heard there were drag queens doing storytime at the Eternal Archive, and he is NOT happy about it
• Anika has been linking Labyrinth and Alice in Wonderland for YEARS
• An alarming amount of people don't believe in atonement or redemption
• Michael's riddle is, do you understand the point of Star Trek: Discovery?
• Is the Federation bigoted against slime people?
• "What I'm about to say is going to make it sound like I ship Vance and Rayner, and I want you to know that I do."

171. Ice Cold Hot Take (Discovery 5.07)

It is so awkward when you literally stick a guy in a refrigerator and then his death provides motivation for his grieving partner to go on a rampage. Anika and Liz discuss season 5, episode 7 of Star Trek: Discovery - "Erigah"(!!!).

• It is DEVASTATING that this is Discovery's last season and we're going to lose Rayner as fast as we got him
• Liz accidentally talks herself into shipping Michael/Nahn and also Nahn/Ortegas
• We have unlocked Rayner's tragic backstory
• Hot take: Michael is now a better captain than (prime) Georgiou
• Anika is here to make it about Jack Crusher
• We aren't puzzle people, but neither are the Discovery writers, and it kind of shows
• Jett/Pelia has never been more canon

170. Kovich Ex Machina (Discovery 5.06)

Anika and Liz infiltrate a pre-warp society, where they absolutely do not enter a race, that is clearly a trap. Not because of the human sacrifice, because of the running! 

• Like episode 3, this felt a bit predictable, but ALSO like a rebuke to "Lift Us Up Where Suffering Cannot Reach" and "Who Watches The Watchers", so we're not mad about it
• What if obeying the Prime Directive is the unethical option? 
• (Caretaker + Who Watches the Watchers) x (Lift Us Up Where Suffering Cannot Reach + Sacred Ground) - Christopher Pike/Evil Ex + Michael "Fuck the Prime Directive" Burnham
• Hugh Culber and ChatGPT therapy
• Paul and Hugh are both at turning points, but it's not a crisis for them or their relationship
• This season is the opposite of a mystery box
• Discovery has always been a series where science and religion co-exist
• Paramount, the most competent media company, accidentally took Anika off their Star Trek list and put her on the Knuckles list. So … we talk about Knuckles! 
• Is Kovich a little too omniscient?
• We are not here for fandom's fatshaming of Mary Wiseman