The gravity globe is such a weird little thing - I guess it’s called that because of the way it hangs in the air? Pretty risky when you’re in a planet orbiting a black hole, that’s also projecting some kind of gravity funnel into deep space.

Even weirder is the fact that it’s recurring - the Anglican Marines use one in Matt Smith’s Weeping Angels two-parter.

also implying there’s no way Rose can get back to the other universe where Mickey and Pete are.

I like this thought - it had never occurred to me before.

What’s that you say? You were underwhelmed by last week’s bland TV lady as a villain? Can I interest you in the actual, Biblical Satan?

I don’t think I quite knew what to make of this episode when I first saw it - it’s so unlike anything else we’ve seen in the new series. But hot damn, do I ever love it now.

There’s a base! And it’s under siege! Groundbreaking! The Doctor’s quip about these bases being built out of kits is another bit that I definitely didn’t appreciate at the time, but it’s pretty funny. I think the Doctor/Rose relationship is in its ideal state here. Low-key flirty in a way that feels pretty real, without being maudlin (though it walks up to that line as they discuss what they’ll do if they ever escape Sanctuary Base 6).

The episode handles the base crew very well - they’re necessarily sketched out quickly, but they all seem like living, breathing people, and I really felt it when poor Toby and Scooti met their fates. Will Thorp deserves particular credit for making Toby seem like a sympathetic character, and then flipping to seeming incredibly threatening once he’s been taken over by the Beast.

Pretty nice spacesuits. I wonder if we’ll ever see them again.

I’m sure there’s loads that can be said about this episode, but I dunno. It’s great. Bring on the next one. I’ll be waiting here with an inverted self-extrapolating reflex of 6 to the power of 6 every 6 seconds.

Pike’s decision to go along with a planetary genocide on a hunch was indefensible to say the least.

And I think that’s the most compelling part!

TBH, one could argue that this season has been pretty successful, if the number of discussion points is anything to go by.

I pay even less attention to the numbers than you do, and I can say that I find the trilithium-enhanced tricobalt torpedo launcher very satisfying to play. That’s enough for me.

Honestly, I think “A Case of Chiaroscuro” deserves another look. If you disregard the B&W “gimmick” (which I think served the story quite well, but YMMV), I think the A- and B-stories are good, classical Trek.

A little TOS-y in some respects, but I don’t consider that a knock against.

Yeah, I couldn’t be less interested in unreliable, easily-manipulated aggregate "scores, " regardless of whether I agree with what they say. This whole site is for people to share their own opinions in a genuine and intelligent way, and that’s far more interesting to me.

Every one commits treason who, in Canada,

(a) uses force or violence for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Canada or a province;

(b) without lawful authority, communicates or makes available to an agent of a state other than Canada, military or scientific information or any sketch, plan, model, article, note or document of a military or scientific character that he knows or ought to know may be used by that state for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada;

© conspires with any person to commit high treason or to do anything mentioned in paragraph (a);

(d) forms an intention to do anything that is high treason or that is mentioned in paragraph (a) and manifests that intention by an overt act; or

(e) conspires with any person to do anything mentioned in paragraph (b) or forms an intention to do anything mentioned in paragraph (b) and manifests that intention by an overt act.

CBC:

The Criminal Code defines treason primarily as the use of force to overthrow the government or sharing with another state information that may be used for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada.

Seems pretty much the same?

It means that spock was the only character that had opportunity for development and growth, and no-one else gets to share in that.

This is true. I do think they did a fair amount with it in that respect, though, and he’s now pretty firmly on the trajectory he needs to be on to line up with his TOS characterization. And I’ll give full credit to Ethan Peck for selling his barely-restrained panic attacks (full-blown meltdowns by Vulcan standards, I’m sure).

I thought the answer would have been Looney Tunes style cartoon physics. Like they can win, but so long as it’s a gag / funny. Maybe they tried doing that and it didn’t quite land.

Yeah, I think there was a degree of that in the final solution, with La’An running across the walls and making a perfect three-point landing and the like, but they didn’t quite commit to it.

Uhhhh you might want to skip tonight’s episode.

None of the live-action series have done one, but the images have been floating around since…July 2025, I think.

I’m definitely enjoying the season more than you, but there’s a high degree of difficulty here nonetheless.

More than most episodes, I don’t think there’s much space between “home run” and “faceplant.”

I wouldn’t put money on it either way, but I would think CBS Studios would have more say in that than Paramount+ as the “network” - the two are very intertwined obviously, but I suspect Paramount+ just wants the shows, without being too concerned about who makes them.

Chris Parnell, formerly with Apple TV and current EVP for Paramount+ Originals.

This isn’t even Star Trek’s first trip to the well.

star trek is serious business

This is another episode where the pair of Doctor and Rose feel to have jumped around a bit. After last episode’s downer ending they’re all upbeat again. This has happened a few times this series.

Yeah, I know I’ve been banging on about this all season, but it really seems the like episodic sequence is all out of whack.

This is a pretty average episode, and I don’t have a good sense for what people think of it in general, but I’ve always been fond of it for one reason: the domestic approach.

Eddie Connolly is an absolute cartoon character, but he’s a type of stock character that I like a lot. A petty tyrant in his own home, clearly a product of older times that are coming to an end, likely having experienced a fair amount of wartime trauma, who ultimately gets his comeuppance. Jamie Foreman’s performance is a little over-the-top, but in a way, that makes it work even better for me. He’s got so much impotent bluster, it really paints a picture. To a lesser extent, this expands out to the overall setting - this is a society in transition, and there’s a palpable tug-of-war between the old and the new that I find compelling.

The core plot with the Wire? Adequate. It does what it needs to do, and not much more. Maureen Lipman plays the character well, and the notion that the Wire was “executed” by their own people is interesting, but there’s not a lot to chew on.

Mark Gatiss seems to have a really good grasp of who the Tenth Doctor and Rose are - their dialogue, both together and separately, has a lot of energy. A fun random bit that I’m not sure I noticed before: when the Doctor is cornered by the police and does the bit about wrapping your hand around your elbow, the goon in the background tries it while Detective Inspector Bishop is trying to act intimidating.

Using an historic television signal to transmit to the masses is a good idea. Maybe the Doctor should keep that one in mind.