2020 looking up - Lower Decks podcast returns

@avivit.pasha I am so humbled by your comment! Speaking openly about mental health and the importance of community, dialogue, and de-stigmatization is sometimes hard to do, even as a mental health professional. I am so grateful for Glenn and for our community of listeners that embraces us. I'm on my own journey to unlearn the need to "be strong" and to redefine what strength means for me. So glad to have you in the Claytemple fold. :)

@G.L. McDorman As for Strange New Worlds, I'll give anything Trek a chance. I will continue to soldier through Discovery as well. I dunno though. After the Picard show seemed to indulge all of the very worst instincts of our current Trek helmers, my confidence in any new iteration is pretty low. (I look forward to hearing what y'all think of Picard, though. Maybe I will be able to see it in a new light.)

@Greg Thank you so much! We're excited to be back - your kind words are so meaningful. It's been interesting to see what shows and seasons speak to us as a fandom and which do not. I'm trying to rest on there being a little something for everyone, if there is something in the new Trek that we can each find to love.

I really struggled to like Picard, however I personally am really enjoying Season 3 of DISCO. I talk to others that feel directly the opposite, some people that like neither but enjoy the wacky antics on Lower Decks, or simply found something to love in the Short Treks.

For DISCO, I thought E1 was powerfully acted, and E4 is still making me cry. I've been finding a lot of joy and hope in the narrative of searching for and returning to Federation values. I've also been enjoying DISCO's ongoing commitment to inclusive casting, which is something I thought caught the spirit of TOS from the very beginning. The inclusion of non-binary and trans characters is overwhelmingly meaningful to me, especially with the tie-in to Trill. For many of us in the LGBTQ+ community, it helps re-write the Trill narratives on gender, sexuality, love, and attraction that got close to being told but were not ever fully explored in the era of 90s Trek. This is not to say that there isn't something to critique - I don't love every bit of dialogue, every plot choice, etc. But to see a future that fully embraces a variety of communities that are not presently embraced in our world gives me a relief and a comfort that is hard to put into words.

That being said - give me some classic Trek anytime! Looking forward to what's to come with our new launch. :)

@Valerie H. You make a great case that even with all the "grimdark" leanings of new Trek, depiction of IDIC on the show has never been stronger. Good point!