So 46 episodes in total. Could have at least made it 47. 🙄

Interestingly the base Pixel 10 seems to have a telephoto lens.

I hope it’s not just a misdirection.

Some random thoughts:

• I like that this current era of Star Trek tries out new styles instead of simply copying the “7-ish crew members stand around on the bridge of a Starfleet ship and go on weekly adventures” formula. Some of those new styles work, others don’t. Section 31 unfortunately didn’t work. But this TV Movie format could be a neat way to try out new things.
• As a lifelong Star Trek fan I liked the species they’ve brought back (Deltans! Cherons!) and giving the tricorders the TNG sound effect was neat too. Also, I’ll have a closer look on the Federation map. I always love those canon tidbits.
• Speaking of canon tidbits, at the end of the movie they go on a mission on Turkana IV. That’s Tasha Yar’s home planet on which the government breaks down sometime in the 2330s. And judging by Rachel Garret being a Lieutenant Commander she’s probably still a decade or so away from commanding the Enterprise-C, so the Section 31 movie is set in 2330s. That means that Section 31 could have a hand in Turkana IV’s government collapse (either causing it or trying to prevent it).
• The characters in this movie behave just as nonsensical as the DISCO characters. They condemn Georgiou for being Literally Space Hitler but in the end they all hug and become best friends. WTF?
• Other than that, this is a generic sci-fi action movie. If it weren’t for the couple of species and namedrops, this wouldn’t have any connection to Star Trek.
• If I had a bar of gold-pressed latinum everytime they produce Star Trek movie featuring Section 31, and that movie then became the worst Star Trek movie at the time, then I had two bars of gold-pressed latinum. Which isn’t a lot but it’s still weird that they made that mistake twice.

Thanks for the chuckle. I needed it today.

It’s fitting that Lieutenant Woof isn’t in the picture.

My favorite little easter egg is that the LOWER DECKS font in the title card now has those blue streaks in the background. Because it’s the 5th season. Just like TNG added those blue streaks in its 5th season.

By the way, that’s why Ransom calls Una “the hottest First Officer in Starfleet history”.

“…nice hat.”

The actual scene is very funny too.

SELA: Come in, gentlemen. Take a seat, please. (she continues working on a PADD) Excuse me, I’m just finishing up a speech. For you, Mister Spock. I rather enjoy writing. I don’t get to do it often in this job.

DATA: Perhaps you would be happier in another job.

I always remembered TNG as being very stiff. But I’ve been rewatching several episodes with a friend lately, and I was surprised how many subtle jokes are in there.

I mean, that’s actually great advice.

One thing that the current era of Trek does right is giving each series a unique vibe. Remember when everyone complained that Voyager was just TNG 2.0? Definitely doesn’t happen nowadays.

Of course that means that not every series appeals to every Trekkie. And that’s okay. Just pick the ones you like.

“Compact” is a bit of a stretch. But the size of the Pixel 9 and 9 Pro (non-XL) is pretty nice. I currently have a 7 Pro and while the “screen real estate” is nice, it’s really on the upper end of what I’m willing to use. (Both in terms of size and weight) I bought my mom a Pixel 8 recently and I really liked the form factor when I set up the phone. It’s large enough to fit everything on the screen but small enough to use comfortably. Since I really want a telephoto lens the non-XL Pro version seems like it’s made for me. 😄

I’m all for trying new things within the Star Trek universe!

I’m usually in the same boat. Because IDIC, you know? I like it when new shows expand the Trek universe and try something new. Just look at DS9. It got a lot of backlash in the 90s (“too dark”, “not Gene’s vision” etc.) and nowadays it’s very popular and often ranked somewhere around TNG.

But this Section 31 movie… I don’t know. Nothing about seems appealing. The main role is basically Space Hitler. It was already nonsense how they tried to redeem that character on Discovery while she had no redeeming qualities. Compare that to other Trek “villains” like Gul Dukat who at least had some sort of moral compass, even if it was a bit skewed. But Georgiou? There’s nothing. She’s just one-dimensionally evil. Do we really need a movie with her in the main role? 😕

And your cellphone even costs less. (unless you’ve bought a flagship phone)

Thankfully TOS never did any fantasy stuff like galactic barriers, Trelane, massive green hands in space, or Abraham Lincoln. That wouldn’t have been true to Gene’s vision.

I’m not a fan of Disco either, but tardigrades and time bugs are really low on my list of complaints. Star Trek did lots of even whackier stuff over the last 60 years (or did everyone forget the “Fun with DNA” episodes of the 90s?). In fact, that time bug episode was probably the best 32nd century Disco episode. Which is a low bar, but anyway.

This was … a DISCO episode.

Lengthy but meaningless action sequences? Check. Shaky cams all the damn time? Check. People talking about their feelings at the worst possible moment? Check. No apparent command structure and people just doing whatever they want? Check. One-dimensional villains? Check. Flamethrowers on the bridge? Check. (although, to be honest, those are so absurd that I’ll actually miss them)

I liked the future scenes because they were noticably slower and cerebral than pretty much anything that Discovery did during its five seasons. I wish they would have done something like that more often.

But yeah, that’s it. I’m somewhat glad it’s over. I liked the first two seasons of the show. Despite their flaws I appreciated that they’ve tried something new in the Star Trek franchise. And ultimately that led to Strange New Worlds, so I’ll have to give them credit for that. Anything after the season 3 time jump was not my cup of tea though. There was never enough worldbuilding for my taste because so much screentime was devoted to Burnham and Book, and that meant that the 31st century never really felt “real” to me.

Maybe I’ll rewatch seasons 1 and 2 somewhere down the line but I have no interest in watching seasons 3-5 again. I’ll just treat them as Burnham’s fever dream or something like that.

There actually is a page with that title which forwards to the profanity page: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Colorful_metaphor