First, we both have essays out! 

On Raffi by Anika Dane is in the current issue of Star Trek Quarterly

The Diversity Paradox: Star Trek, Star Trek fandom, and the limits of fandom as progressivism by Liz Barr is in Speculative Insight

SECOND, it's time. Anika and Liz are being called away from a fancy 32nd century cocktail party to stand in an empty void and discuss the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery's fifth and final season...

• Compared with the over-the-top emotional drama monarchs of Star Trek: Picard's third season, it's just nice to be with competent professionals who get the job done
• Picking up the threads of Star Trek: Picard's first season
• Captain Picard is still the most important individual who ever existed
• This arc so far has the Star Trek V problem: they can't actually meet God, so the real meaning of life will be the friends we made along the way
• Tilly has a rare but valuable anti-ambition arc
• Moll and L'ak have wandered in from another series, but we're not mad about it
• It's nice that Vance has a wife and Tilly has a love interest, but we're still shipping Vance/Tilly and we're not sorry