It really is skin-suit Star Trek, with momentary glimpses of what it could have been.
It's remarkable to note that by removing every single last overweight female character they would have greatly improved the episode. Even the new-age hippie captain would be tolerable, if she wasn't surrounded by female dumplings.
It really is astonishing that they insist on including all of these 'Silly Tilly' effigies. As if 'Silly Tilly' from Discovery wasn't bad enough.
It's also funny that you kind of/sort of want to watch Star Trek Discovery after watching this episode. Just to see what caused this 'Burn', but then you remember all the trender stuff and you instantly lose all interest.
And then you remember Stacey Abrams as 'president of earth' and all the other horrid stuff comes rushing back.
Feels like drinking from a poisoned well.
Edit: Also, fun fact. Andor season 1 episode 1 autoplays after this Star Trek episode. Apparently, you can watch the first season (or first couple of episodes) of Andor for free on Youtube.
Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Revenge of the Sith, and Rogue One.
I - VI, half credit for Rogue One
The prequels are highly flawed, but accomplished a lot at the same time. To this date, no one has created a standalone world in cinema like the prequels did. Return of the Jedi was clearly half-baked, but still has a lot of important stuff in it. The Disney mainline sequels are all farces obviously.
Rogue One has good qualities but it fundamentally undermines the Rebel cause. In the end, only movies from the creator of Star Wars are truly Star Wars.
I liked Rogue One because it was an old-school World War II movie.
Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, and half credit for ESB and RotS each.
Why a half credit for Empire? It’s usually regarded as the best of the bunch.
It doesn't have an ending and the set pieces suck.
ESB has a lot of pathos, but it's got a very serialized, "coming next week" kind of ending. ANH and ROTJ both have real endings.
The Bespin saber fight is neat, particularly the silhouetted portion in the freezing chamber. But Hoth is ugly and boring, Dagobah is ugly and boring, Bespin City is sterile and boring. There are no star wars in Star Wars V. Compared to the kino of duel and battle in ROTJ, ESB gets credit mostly for effort but not result.