Ceindreadh

AFAIK, Melissa Navia's lack of screen time/showcase plots was at least in part due to the fact that her partner died suddenly just before filming for season 2 and TPTB were trying to give her space to grieve. So it's not like she was just sidelined for no reason. Hopefully Ortegas will not only survive to season 3, but get her episode in the spotlight as well.

I just presumed that Howard told them every detail, including what he said to the 'ghost'.

Well, at least she didn't have the usual soap opera issue of not knowing which of her partners had gotten her pregnant!

True, but that seems illogical. Spock is the second in command on the Enterprise and has interacted with Chapel several times before that scene. At some point he must have been introduced to her. Just because he only uses one name, doesn't mean he wouldn't remember other people's names.

And whatever about staying at home, the whole point of a holter monitor is that it's a passive device that records heart rhythm. It's not something that the wearer has to activate when they think their heart is acting up.

Re 1, Agreed. They could have had somebody bring up the possibility of survivors and have it dismissed as unlikely or point out that smashing the field generator was the only way the known survivors on the planet had any chance of survival. Re 2, Disagree. I'm pretty sure that Captain Batel had more pressing things on her mind at that time than her crew. She knows they're dead (presumably Pike told her what her ship looked like), but if she stops to grieve and lament for them, then the remaining survivors might end up dead as well. Matt Decker had the luxury of a time and place to grieve. Batel didn't.

Hello, Ortegas was there as well. I know the writers seem to forget about her, but come on she finally gets an away mission and this happens! If she makes it back to the Enterprise, and I really hope she does, I can see her swearing off away missions for good! That said, if TPTB, do feel the need for a main crew casualty, it’s probably going to be between her and La’an.

We've already had TOS. I want to keep the SNW crew around for as many seasons as they can stretch it out to. A single season doesn't have to take a year of Starfleet time. Much as I loved TOS, I want to keep Ortegas and Pike and Una around and not have them replaced. Bringing Kirk in for so much of S2 was bad enough and felt like TPTB didn't have enough confidence that the show could stand alone without his presence. (I did have similar feelings about Pike/Spock/Una showing up on Discovery and almost didn't watch SNW because of it) As for this episode, I HATE CLIFFHANGERS! I was also rather concerned that after we were finally going to get Ortegas on an away mission that she wouldn't survive it. (I was that concerned that when the episode dropped, I actually scrolled to the end just to make sure she'd be okay...or at least not dead!) I do think I'm going to have to rewatch Subspace Rhapsody again just to soothe my nerves after this ep. (and then maybe a full series rewatch to fill in the gap until next season)

Normal communications were down though, even before the music started. Uhura was having to transfer messages manually. Maybe Christine decided that since both Spock and Uhura were working round the clock to fix the issue that taking up their time and space with a personal message that wasn't time sensitive, might not have been a good idea. I was rewatching again, and I loved that even the ships were 'dancing' in the final sequence. Also loved Pike's horrified reaction when Ortegas started singing in the opening number!

So at some time in the next season, we can expect Spock to be telling T'Pring "We were on a break!!" (not raising his voice of course)

AFAIK, the next season of Lower Decks was already completed before the strikes. At this point, they wouldn't have dropped the trailer if they weren't going to be able to finish it.

I love that he brought his plants with him! And then moved them into the bookshop when Aziraphale took the car. My favourite character description is of Terry Pratchett's 'Nanny Ogg'.

From the Good Omens Dramatis Personae - Crowley (An Angel who did not so much Fall, as Saunter Vaguely Downwards) Satan (A Fallen Angel; the Adversary) Is it bad that I didn't actually need to open the book for Crowley's description? (although I did open it just to get the capitalisation correct)

They animated the opening credits!!! I actually had to rewind the credits because I didn't notice it at first! This was just such a fun episode. Loved it when Boimler was listing out the things Pike was known for and Pike's expression when he mentioned the hair. I didn't even know we were getting it early until I saw it mentioned on Twitter about 1am my time, and I was sorely tempted to watch it there and then, but I knew that Pike would insist that my sleep was important and I think I needed to be fully awake to appreciate it all.

Looks like season 2 is airing on BBC One tonight (16th July)

It's a lot easier to adhere to canon when the show is a sequel rather than a prequel. Personally, I'm quite happy to think of SNW as being in a completely different timeline to TOS. But then I'm a T-Pring fan and would have no problem if TPTB figured out a way to keep her around.

The old man on the planet had to match the symbols on his arm to those on his shelter in order to know where he lived. That's not the same as reading letters to form words. I didn't see Erica reading anything after she orginally took the tablet from Spock.

I felt so bad for Erica. She was so looking forward to being part of the away team and wearing a cool hat. I love that she put it back on when (presumably) going back to her quarters to change back into uniform. I really hope that she gets on an away team before the end of the season.

IIRC the baby was conceived after the previous 1st July. So once the reset came they went back to a point before the pregnancy happened.

The deaths on the ground only took place in the last two hours. Both characters were off duty, so their absence probably isn't going to be noticed for a few hours.

I think this episode was the exact opposite of an ensemble piece. There are 8 characters listed in the credits. This episode focused almost entirely on one. Was there any scene that La'an did not appear in? Only 3 of the other characters even got lines, and the other 4 barely got reaction shots. (Chapel wasn't even in the episode) It's all very well giving a character their episode in the spotlight (and I wouldn't be complaining if it was a character that I preferred), but there's only 10 episodes this season and this one feels like a waste of my time.

They were supposed to happen in 1992, but something screwed up the timeline and the Romulan was stuck there another 30 years. It's not unreasonable to assume that Khan's conception was delayed by time agent interference as well. I would have disliked this episode less if it had been one out of twenty. But we're only getting ten episodes and TPTB want to centre one around La'an? Honestly, I wish I'd just fast forwarded through it and watched the 'ups and downs' on YouTube. (I will admit that if it had been Ortegas and not La'an, I would have been so there for it)

IIRC, they mentioned that after the events of the first episode that there'd been a feature article on Will which mentioned him having been found in a trashcan. James must have seen it and realised that Will had survived. As for why he stopped killing for so long, I think he was possibly smart enough to know that if the killings stopped after his scapegoat (Juice) was in jail, then that would be case closed as far as the police were concerned.

I think a lot of vow renewals are just an excuse to have a party, and if so, then good for them.

Laura didn't intend to kill the actor. She presumably thought that the actor was overreacting and just needed to suck it up and get the scene done before they ran out of time and money. Afterwards, assuming that the movie wasn't completed because of the death, there would likely have been some sort of insurance payout which would have kept the company afloat.