I interpreted that song very differently. When Boimler spoke with Chapel, she didn’t just realize that her and Spock wouldn’t be together long term but also realized that Boimler didn’t really know her like he knew Spock.

Spock goes on to do amazing things and every detail of his life is recorded in books that people over a century later will read and, essentially, worship him. Chapel isn’t even a cliff note. In her mind, she must feel like she makes no difference and gets down on herself. When she gets the fellowship, it renews her confidence and let’s her know that there is a whole universe of possibilities in front of her.

That was my interpretation of her feelings in the song but I can see others as reading it differently.

Do we need the backstory? It’s space PCP for war. Jokes aside, look at how many times in war, we (and I mean a collective we because numerous countries have done this over the last century+) have given soldiers, pilots, etc amphetamines and more in order to improve their ability to fight, stay awake, and win the war.

M’Benga made a future drug that does all this which he prefers people don’t use but keeps it just in case he has to save people or survive battles.

That’s all the explanation I need. Old Trek didn’t give us even that much most of the time - just treknobabble.

All of what you described gave me strong MASH vibes and me the think the writers had to have loved that show.

When the transporters were being announced, I thought of the choppers coming in and how they all mobilized to deal with it including getting people out of the way so new patients could arrive.

Not to mention the great but heart breaking episodes where they did have to choose one life over another and that was their job in wartime. So incredibly heartbreaking in a comedy show, heartbreaking in a scifi show, yet so poignant.

I look forward to seeing someone write in retrospect a deep dive into a comparison of M’Benga and Bashir in wartime. The two felt the same emotions, dealt with the same decisions, and had to deal with tough choices and the inherent struggle of the Hippocratic oath in wartime yet both of them handled it so incredibly differently.

That is a Daystrom essay I look forward to reading.

I heard some people complaining about this on a podcast but my view is that they’re doing a good job alternating between the heavier episodes and the more lighthearted episodes. If we had 5 light hearted followed by 5 heavy episodes, it would be more jarring than alternating as they have been.

This is the episodic show for which the fans have been begging for years. Now that we have it and get the fun episodes mixed with the harder hitting episodes, some people have complaints.

We also have to consider that they are getting 10 episodes instead of 26 or 22. You’re not getting 8 good episodes, 8 meh episodes, and 6 bad episodes anymore (thos is a reference to how screenwriters viewed episodes at the time). Now we have 10 episodes that need to be on point with maybe a couple meh episodes.

In my opinion, the best way to do that is to alternate as they have. Not everyone wants a serious episode every week (like all those complaining that Star Trek has become too dark) and not everyone likes the silly episodes (as referenced by those who didn’t like the crossover). By alternating, you get that old school Trek, episodic story telling that make Trek so great to begin with.

I know you weren’t saying all those things I’m alluding to but I was talking to my radio in the car as they were saying these things today and your comment brought those thoughts back out.

I mean, I keep thinking back to all the silly episodes of TNG, DS9, and VOY. Personally they are some of my favorites and don’t detract from the more serious episodes at all.

The cloaking device wasn’t originally part of the design - they borrowed it from the Romulans for use in the Gamma Quadrant exclusively.

The idea of a supremely over-powered and over-weaponed “little ship” does make sense as it can fly circles around the cube and let loose on it but it really only makes sense to me if they planned on making multiples and just bombarding the Borg ships. They were even designed for a skeleton crew so this tracks if they’re considering loss of life. The small crew that runs a Defiant class versus the full crew compliment of a Galaxy, for instance, is a massive difference.

I believe it’s even mentioned that they scrapped building more Defiants as the prototype was bursting apart at the seems which is why they let Sisko take it. Only O’Brien was able to figure out how to stabilize it and thus more were built after.

And him doing his walk away from Una the second time. And so many of Tawnie’s mannerisms like in the shuttle where she kinda strikes a pose before getting caught. And Quaid’s mannerisms and screaming with Spock in the lab.

Those two really worked to make realistic versions of the silliness they have in LDS and it was magnificent. I caught so much more on second watch.

Definitely watch the Ready Room episode. They talk about a lot of this. I remember another interview where Tawnie Newsom, I think, talks about how Frakes, Quaid, and her just kinda took over the set because they were all nerding out, being silly, and improv-ing a bunch because that’s what they do on LDS.