sinanju

There's absolutely no evidence for the notion that the dreadnought was actively "hovering" rather than operating in orbit, nor that any other vessels were doing so.
 
This battle was just as non-sensical as every other space battle in Star Wars. (I mean, seriously--bombers? That can only drop their payloads at knife-fighting range? Maybe if they'd used missiles, or even just flung the bombs from a distance, they might not have had the whole bomber force wiped out.

The Enterprise sure as **** is a military vessel. They have a military system of ranks and chain of command. They operate under military discipline. They are tried, when necessary, in a court *martial*, not a civilian court. The ship is heavily armed, and provides military defense for the area of space in which it operates. The Captain is vested with the power, on his own authority, to wage WAR on other powers. That is a military vessel, no matter how much they may pretend otherwise. And none of this a "rewriting" of Starfleet--this is all straight out TOS.

The Enterprise sure as **** is a military vessel. They have a military system of ranks and chain of command. They operate under military discipline. They are tried, when necessary, in a court *martial*, not a civilian court. The ship is heavily armed, and provides military defense for the area of space in which it operates. The Captain is vested with the power, on his own authority, to wage WAR on other powers. That is a military vessel, no matter how much they may pretend otherwise. And none of this a "rewriting" of Starfleet--this is all straight out TOS.

"Not telling your troops the whole plan..."? She didn't even tell them she HAD a plan other than jog away from the oncoming fleet til they ran out of gas. Part of being a good leader is giving your troops reason to trust you even when they don't know your plans. She failed miserably at that.
 
 
 
He didn't NEED a communicator. He could have APPEARED TO REY (or anyone apparently, as everyone within range could see him as if he were really there) anywhere in the galaxy (apparently) and said, "I changed my mind. Send someone to get me."
 
 
 
The order had no idea where he was and, apart from Kylo, no other Force sensitives we know about, now that Snoke is dead. (Speaking of which, is he DEAD dead, or only MOSTLY dead like Luke and Yoda and Obi-Wan and Vader?) So they'd have had no way to find him. Why on earth would Leia or Rey "lose contact with the rebellion" if they went to visit Luke? Rey didn't. She had a magic maguffin that allowed her to find Leia (or whoever held the other magic maguffin) anywhere in the galaxy. (And why wasn't Leai being baked alive by the sheer wattage of whatever broadcast that thing was generating to be detectable at galactic distances?)
 
 
You're assuming the books were destroyed. We don't know that. Rey might have taken them. Yoda may have "destroyed" them with lightning so Luke wouldn't discover that they're gone. Just because the "wisdom" of the Jedi was lacking (which I agree with), doesn't mean that she can't learn from their history--and I'm assuming at least some of those books are histories/logs/diaries/etc.
 
 
We're not talking about Rey. We're talking about Luke Skywalker, who saw the potential for redemption in a man whose crimes were literally legendary. A man who'd destroyed the Jedi, murdered countless people, and...well, all of it. He confronted THAT man with no intention of ever killing him. He confronted him ready to die in the attempt to redeem him. And THAT man, THAT Luke Skywalker, would never have tried--even for a nanosecond--to murder a sleeping boy because he feared with that boy MIGHT do.

"Not telling your troops the whole plan..."? She didn't even tell them she HAD a plan other than jog away from the oncoming fleet til they ran out of gas. Part of being a good leader is giving your troops reason to trust you even when they don't know your plans. She failed miserably at that.
 
 
 
He didn't NEED a communicator. He could have APPEARED TO REY (or anyone apparently, as everyone within range could see him as if he were really there) anywhere in the galaxy (apparently) and said, "I changed my mind. Send someone to get me."
 
 
 
The order had no idea where he was and, apart from Kylo, no other Force sensitives we know about, now that Snoke is dead. (Speaking of which, is he DEAD dead, or only MOSTLY dead like Luke and Yoda and Obi-Wan and Vader?) So they'd have had no way to find him. Why on earth would Leia or Rey "lose contact with the rebellion" if they went to visit Luke? Rey didn't. She had a magic maguffin that allowed her to find Leia (or whoever held the other magic maguffin) anywhere in the galaxy. (And why wasn't Leai being baked alive by the sheer wattage of whatever broadcast that thing was generating to be detectable at galactic distances?)
 
 
You're assuming the books were destroyed. We don't know that. Rey might have taken them. Yoda may have "destroyed" them with lightning so Luke wouldn't discover that they're gone. Just because the "wisdom" of the Jedi was lacking (which I agree with), doesn't mean that she can't learn from their history--and I'm assuming at least some of those books are histories/logs/diaries/etc.
 
 
We're not talking about Rey. We're talking about Luke Skywalker, who saw the potential for redemption in a man whose crimes were literally legendary. A man who'd destroyed the Jedi, murdered countless people, and...well, all of it. He confronted THAT man with no intention of ever killing him. He confronted him ready to die in the attempt to redeem him. And THAT man, THAT Luke Skywalker, would never have tried--even for a nanosecond--to murder a sleeping boy because he feared with that boy MIGHT do.

Dislikes:
Agreed--General Haldo took way too long to react to the attack on the transports. WAY too long.
So...the Rebellion spent years fighting to overthrow the Empire and succeeded...only to get their asses kicked, and get nearly wiped out, by The Order only a few years later. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. I guess the idea is that the rebels always have to be the underdogs, but it's getting really old. Plus, I don't care who they have on their side, a group that could fit comfortably in my living room is very unlikely to succeed at liberating a city, much less a galaxy. At least they didn't drag out another Deathstar-like superweapon (the battering-ram beam doesn't count).
The endless, endless, endless battle scenes. I almost left the theater at the two-thirds mark because I was bored by them. As far as I was concerned, the battle scenes were like videogame cutscenes. Nothing of consequence to our heroes was going to happen in those battles, so I don't really care about them. I stuck it out, and was glad I did because I got to see some other interesting stuff, but my personal fan-edit of the movie would drastically cut the battle scenes in favor of the more personal stuff.
 
Likes:
Snoke is dead. These obnoxious, arrogant, physically-deformed Evil Emperors are getting old. Kylo is at least normal looking.
"I want every gun we have trained on that man!" "Do you think you got him?"
I like Rose.
 
Miscellaneous:
Was what Kylo told Rey about her parents true? I think it was, in essence if not in detail. She was clearly abandoned (no matter how desperately she wanted to believe otherwise), and she has no pedigree worth mentioning.
I thought it was funny how attached Luke was to the Jedi manuscripts given his history. I've seen it commented on elsewhere (tumblr, mostly) that Luke was successful as a hero mostly because he *ignored* the well-meant training of Obi-Way and Yoda when it went against his sense of right and wrong...whereas Anakin became Darth Vader because he tried so hard to be the perfect Jedi. I did like Luke's comment that the history of the Jedi was one of failure and hubris. Yes. Yes, it was.

Perhaps, perhaps not. 
 
I knew plenty in the Nav during the 80-90's that spent full tours plus as geo-bachelers long before there was reliable cell coverage more than 5 miles outside a city like LA or Seattle.  I can remember spending 2 hours in line to spend 5 minutes (for $50) to call home and talk to my folks on Christmas.  That was in 90.  And there were more years with no contact because we weren't near a phone.
 
Putting dependents and children on an unsupported ship on the outer edge of no where is something only someone who's idea of hardship danger is spilling a latte would think is a good idea.    Being at sea for long periods of time is tedious at best even with a purpose.  Being at sea with no real purpose is mind crushing.   At least with a ship you can see the sky and breath fresh air, watch broadcasts etc.  On a starship? 
 

Keep telling yourself that. Ignore the existence of General Order 24, by which Kirk threatened to "sterilize the planet" in one episode, or the fact that the Enterprise had the firepower to do it. Never mind the canonical fact--which I mentioned--that Enterprise D was the linchpin of the Federation's defense plans, and all the rest of it. Star Fleet *is* military. A slidshod, half-assed military most of the time. But still the military.

The French resistance during WWII was a partisan force. Starfleet is nothing at all like a small, loosely organized, woefully under-funded guerilla force. They were the Federation’s “space navy”, military from top to bottom, with civilian vessels integrated into non-combat roles where it made sense.
 
The Enterprise, along with its mission, did not represent the primary function of Starfleet. In fact, its mission was highly specialized. Starfleet’s primary function was the defense of the Federation. I don’t know why “defense” is perceived as unmilitary by some folks here, but any organization created and mustered for combat operations is a military regardless of its interest—or lack thereof—in conquest.

Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Volume 5. (Also Volumes 1-4). Most of them are westerns, unsurprisingly, but one collection is devoted to crime stories and boxing stories (and half and half), and another is adventure stories. He's known for the details in his stories, and rightly so. The incredible variety of settings is remarkable (a zillion desert stories, and every one is different from the last aside from the heat and lack of water), and stories vary a lot as well. Well worth reading.

Not untrue, but I don't really see anything on TV or in the theater these days that I cannot point to a show in the last 70 odd years and say the same.   Or read a book for that matter without having read an older book that has already done it. 
 
I have boarded the bus where being original is no longer a prerequisite, but rather how they tell the tale.
 
I really get a kick out of watching the younger crowds face when I dredge up the original of a "new cool show" and they realize the "genius" movie maker really just remade an old movie/show with better technology.
 

I agree. He had the seniority in Engineering, and they install this newbie as Chief Engineer? I'd be pissed too if that happened to me. Okay, yeah, he's a brainiac. So what? Does he have all the necessary engineering classes--to say nothing of practical experience--under his belt? (I *think* they said he had great scores in Engineering, to be honest, but if so it just hits another hot button of mine--which is that in most tv SF, "science" of any sort is indistinguishable from "science" of any other sort. You're a botanist? Well, naturally, you understand temporal mechanics and artificial intelligence systems as well....)
 
I wasn't too keen on Yaphet at first. He seemed like too much of a "this would be funny" character. But episodes like New Dimension (where he gets pissed off by the juvenile prank played on him AND he gets righteously angry about being passed over for promotion in favor of a newbie) have made him more of a real character, and I like it.

I agree. He had the seniority in Engineering, and they install this newbie as Chief Engineer? I'd be pissed too if that happened to me. Okay, yeah, he's a brainiac. So what? Does he have all the necessary engineering classes--to say nothing of practical experience--under his belt? (I *think* they said he had great scores in Engineering, to be honest, but if so it just hits another hot button of mine--which is that in most tv SF, "science" of any sort is indistinguishable from "science" of any other sort. You're a botanist? Well, naturally, you understand temporal mechanics and artificial intelligence systems as well....)
 
I wasn't too keen on Yaphet at first. He seemed like too much of a "this would be funny" character. But episodes like New Dimension (where he gets pissed off by the juvenile prank played on him AND he gets righteously angry about being passed over for promotion in favor of a newbie) have made him more of a real character, and I like it.

I agree. He had the seniority in Engineering, and they install this newbie as Chief Engineer? I'd be pissed too if that happened to me. Okay, yeah, he's a brainiac. So what? Does he have all the necessary engineering classes--to say nothing of practical experience--under his belt? (I *think* they said he had great scores in Engineering, to be honest, but if so it just hits another hot button of mine--which is that in most tv SF, "science" of any sort is indistinguishable from "science" of any other sort. You're a botanist? Well, naturally, you understand temporal mechanics and artificial intelligence systems as well....)
 
I wasn't too keen on Yaphet at first. He seemed like too much of a "this would be funny" character. But episodes like New Dimension (where he gets pissed off by the juvenile prank played on him AND he gets righteously angry about being passed over for promotion in favor of a newbie) have made him more of a real character, and I like it.

I agree. He had the seniority in Engineering, and they install this newbie as Chief Engineer? I'd be pissed too if that happened to me. Okay, yeah, he's a brainiac. So what? Does he have all the necessary engineering classes--to say nothing of practical experience--under his belt? (I *think* they said he had great scores in Engineering, to be honest, but if so it just hits another hot button of mine--which is that in most tv SF, "science" of any sort is indistinguishable from "science" of any other sort. You're a botanist? Well, naturally, you understand temporal mechanics and artificial intelligence systems as well....)
 
I wasn't too keen on Yaphet at first. He seemed like too much of a "this would be funny" character. But episodes like New Dimension (where he gets pissed off by the juvenile prank played on him AND he gets righteously angry about being passed over for promotion in favor of a newbie) have made him more of a real character, and I like it.

What I'm saying is that Snyder's a one-trick pony--grim, gritty, bloody, dark spectacles do not a vibrant superhero universe make.  They could stand to brighten things up a bit.  It doesn't have to "copy" Marvel, but it should mirror the general tone of the comics these characters come from.  Superman is not grappling with seeing the difference between right and wrong and figuring out his role in the world.  

After thinking about it for a day, my favorite moment is the
 

My first night's efforts ended with a massive 565 words.
 
I decided to try Nanowrimo this year to try to kickstart my writing. I've spent more than a year dealing with a disintegrating marriage, a separation, and ultimately a divorce. Unsurprisingly, I've had very little left over for writing. But it has been about a year since I moved out of the apartment I shared with my ex (into my current Fortress of Solitude), and we're officially divorced now (for several months). I'm ready to try again.
 
Tonight's effort was very difficult, as I expected. I made a couple of false starts before writing what I officially claim. And I may very well scrap that and start again tomorrow. I'd like to get 50,000 words done on a novel, but if I just get back into the habit of sitting down and trying to write, I'll count that as a win.

Scrap it. Or make it permanent. I'll accept either. But this bouncing back and forth twice a year is a pain in the ass.

My first night's efforts ended with a massive 565 words.
 
I decided to try Nanowrimo this year to try to kickstart my writing. I've spent more than a year dealing with a disintegrating marriage, a separation, and ultimately a divorce. Unsurprisingly, I've had very little left over for writing. But it has been about a year since I moved out of the apartment I shared with my ex (into my current Fortress of Solitude), and we're officially divorced now (for several months). I'm ready to try again.
 
Tonight's effort was very difficult, as I expected. I made a couple of false starts before writing what I officially claim. And I may very well scrap that and start again tomorrow. I'd like to get 50,000 words done on a novel, but if I just get back into the habit of sitting down and trying to write, I'll count that as a win.

I liked the colder, darker Supergirl. I wouldn't want it as a regular thing (god knows we get enough angst from CW shows as it is), but it was nice change. I never liked Mon-El, and never bought the love story between him and Kara. She always had far better chemistry with Cat or Lana than I ever saw with the interstellar frat boy. And I know she mostly talked about the loss of Mon-El, but I think a big part of her reaction had at least as much to do with losing her whole world as a child.
 
It tends to get glossed over, but that is the biggest difference between Clark and Kara. He was too young to remember Krypton. She isn't. Earth is Clark's home in a way it can never be for Kara. She remembers the day everyone she loved, everyone she knew, and everyone and everything in her world was destroyed. There's no counterpart on earth for that experience. People have been displaced. People's families killed. Cultures conquered or enslaved or wiped out. But not a whole world. Given what she experienced, it's remarkable that she's as happy and well-balanced as she is. But some of that is repression, I'm thinking, and the loss of Mon-El allowed her to express a little bit of that.
 
And even then, she did it in a very responsible way. She didn't dramatically toss her Supergirl costume in a trash can in an alley, as Spider-Man has done numerous times. She didn't give up on saving people. She didn't goof off on a months-long bender. She didn't start breaking people when capturing them. She may have been ever-so-slightly less gentle with them, but that was it.
 
This being a CW show, I am always on the look-out for tragedy. I'm prepared for Maggie to get killed off at any moment (especially after "Love you. Forever.") to give Alex some major angst. At the same time, I find it hard to believe the producers (of this show in particular) would be so tone-deaf as to kill off one of the lesbian lovers after all the grief it rained down on The 100 and other shows. But...angst. It's what CW does.
 
I see they've sidelined Cat again, this time as mouthpiece for President Wonder Woman. I know this show has always been very liberal, but if I wanted to be preached at about contemporary real world politics, I'd watch CNN. I hope they tone down the "sly" digs at Trump. Also, can we just get on with the hot Lana-on-Kara action, already? 
 
And a mysterious new character with superstrength! Who could it be? (Seriously, I have no idea.) What will this mean for Supergirl and her friends? I guess we'll see.
 
We have a new villain in Morgan Edge. Boy, that actor really gets around, doesn't he?

Plus, when they had to rescue Charlize Theron from the asteroid...they couldn't just BEAM her off the ship. They had to physically go and get her. That's not something you see in Star Trek, and I liked it.

I liked the colder, darker Supergirl. I wouldn't want it as a regular thing (god knows we get enough angst from CW shows as it is), but it was nice change. I never liked Mon-El, and never bought the love story between him and Kara. She always had far better chemistry with Cat or Lana than I ever saw with the interstellar frat boy. And I know she mostly talked about the loss of Mon-El, but I think a big part of her reaction had at least as much to do with losing her whole world as a child.
 
It tends to get glossed over, but that is the biggest difference between Clark and Kara. He was too young to remember Krypton. She isn't. Earth is Clark's home in a way it can never be for Kara. She remembers the day everyone she loved, everyone she knew, and everyone and everything in her world was destroyed. There's no counterpart on earth for that experience. People have been displaced. People's families killed. Cultures conquered or enslaved or wiped out. But not a whole world. Given what she experienced, it's remarkable that she's as happy and well-balanced as she is. But some of that is repression, I'm thinking, and the loss of Mon-El allowed her to express a little bit of that.
 
And even then, she did it in a very responsible way. She didn't dramatically toss her Supergirl costume in a trash can in an alley, as Spider-Man has done numerous times. She didn't give up on saving people. She didn't goof off on a months-long bender. She didn't start breaking people when capturing them. She may have been ever-so-slightly less gentle with them, but that was it.
 
This being a CW show, I am always on the look-out for tragedy. I'm prepared for Maggie to get killed off at any moment (especially after "Love you. Forever.") to give Alex some major angst. At the same time, I find it hard to believe the producers (of this show in particular) would be so tone-deaf as to kill off one of the lesbian lovers after all the grief it rained down on The 100 and other shows. But...angst. It's what CW does.
 
I see they've sidelined Cat again, this time as mouthpiece for President Wonder Woman. I know this show has always been very liberal, but if I wanted to be preached at about contemporary real world politics, I'd watch CNN. I hope they tone down the "sly" digs at Trump. Also, can we just get on with the hot Lana-on-Kara action, already? 
 
And a mysterious new character with superstrength! Who could it be? (Seriously, I have no idea.) What will this mean for Supergirl and her friends? I guess we'll see.
 
We have a new villain in Morgan Edge. Boy, that actor really gets around, doesn't he?

All I could think of was "Oh, the big bad this season doesn't look to be another  Speedster? THANK GOD!"

The Orville is clearly fantasy with a science fiction coating. Dark Matter storm. Yeah. And axion particles. Uh huh. Plus, for bonus points, a time travel story that made absolutely no sense. But no worse than many a Trek episode. Plus, why is the helmsman surrendering control of the ship to Pria? In the pilot we were told he was a hot **** pilot par excellence. Now he's all "this is above my pay grade" about dodging some giant bubbles?
 
That said, I'm still watching. Gene Roddenberry once said that westerns (which were much more popular on tv at the time than they are now) were not about authentic 1870s characters, but about characters with the same values and traits of contemporary viewers. Which is correct. Just like the crew of the TOS Enterprise didn't act like people from two hundred years in the future--they were basically contemporary humans from the 1960s.
 
THAT'S where the jokes are in The Orville. It's people like us--or, at least, people like Seth MacFarlane--plopped into a Trek-style universe. They make the same stupid jokes people now would make. They watch the movies and tv shows we would recognize, even if they call them oldies. It was more jarring at first because you don't expect that from characters in a Star Trek show, but this _isn't_ Star Trek. It's an homage, certainly, but with less refined and genteel characters.
 
Plus, we learned something about the Orville universe in this most recent episode.
Their medical tech is good enough that a) the robot could amputate the guy's leg and heal it completely in the space of one night, and the doctor could regenerate it in only hours.
The Orville can travel 10 light-years per hour, and that's considered fast.
The Union apparently is well aware that time travel is at least theoretically possible, since they have a policy of not messing with the timeline.