“The Legend of Korra, Book 1: Air”

Date: January 21, 2021

Music Video of the Day:

“The Scientist” by Coldplay
“Nobody said it was easy, no one ever said it would be so hard.“

Interstellar News: Today was another rough day at work and another rough mental day for me. I chose to plow through the rest of Season 1 of The Legend of Korra and decided to write about it tonight. I’ll get back to Trek soon, I promise.

TL;DR: Korra, a water bender, is identified as the new Avatar after the death of Aang about 70 years after The Last Airbender ended. She’s then trained in earth and fire and is ready to learn air bending from Tenzin, Aang and Katara’s youngest son… but there’s trouble in Republic City. She follows him there and meets Tenzin’s wife and three children (they’re all air benders too), Toph’s daughter Lin (an earth bender), and two brothers, Mako (a fire bender) and Bolin (an earth bender) who are also in the pro-bending league. A group of anti-benders, called “Equalists”, are led by Amon who has the ability to strip benders of their bending.

Pabu the fire ferret
I love Pabu
*soft chittering*

Along the way Korra joins Mako and Bolin’s pro-bending team, The Fire Ferrets, as well as a task force bent (no pun intended) on ferreting (again, not intended) out Amon. She likes Mako, but Bolin likes her, and then Mako meets and starts dating Asami, who is the daughter of the dude who makes all the cars and turns out to be a traitor. There are lots of bad guys and lots of teenage drama, but eventually Korra learns to air bend and how to connect to her past lives. Korra and crew save Republic City and now have to help clean up.

Naga, the polar bear-dog
Naga is the bestest girl in the world.

“When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.”: A few years ago I introduced the husband person to Avatar: The Last Airbender and we both loved it. The Legend of Korra was not available, so we bought it on Blu-ray and then never watched it … because life happened. It’s now on Netflix and we ran out of cooking reality shows to watch while eating dinner. The first season has 12, 20-minute episodes and they’re really great. It’s a fun journey with lots of twists and turns and callbacks to the series which it’s a spin-off of, but still its own show. Naga and Pabu are amazing animal companions, just as Momo and Appa were, and the new Team Avatar is just as well balanced as before with one non-bender and the three elements the Avatar has already mastered on board. The “benders vs. non-benders” feels a lot like what’s happening in America right now and it’s sobering. It’s a continued wonder that the show runners and writers do such a great job with these hard topics on a “kids show”, and can also make the story enjoyable for adults who are watching at a much later date. I’m excited to watch the next three seasons.

TA Out!

“Zootopia”

Date: January 20, 2021

Music Video of the Day:

“Try Everything” by Shakira

Interstellar News: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated today as our new President and Vice President, respectively. I taught my first online synchronous class with only one minor technical glitch. However, our TV was acting up tonight and I didn’t get any Trek or Sports Night watched. I did, however, watch Zootopia with a dear friend on Sunday and wanted to write about it tonight.

TL;DR: The world is made up of animals who are civilized, they talk and wear clothes. Judy Hopps is a rabbit who dreams of being a police officer and, despite everyone in her life doubting her, she makes it through the Academy and is assigned to the city of Zootopia. She’s assigned the relatively safe position of meter maid while the other cops search for 14 missing mammals, and she meets Nick the fox… a con artist. She’s give 48 hours to find a missing otter and she blackmails Nick to help her. They figure out someone is causing predatory animals to “go savage”, but Judy jumps to conclusions and she and Nick have a fight. She quits the force and heads back home to farm carrots with her family when she realizes what caused the damage, she and Nick realize it was a ruse by the prey Assistant Mayor who wanted prey to take control of the city, and they save the day. Nick becomes the first fox cop and the city begins to heal while everyone attends a Shakira concert.

Favorite Quote:

“The more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be.”

“Life is a little bit messy. We all make mistakes. No matter what type of animal (person) you are, change starts with you.”

Officer Judy Hopps

“This is Zootopia, where anyone could be anything.”: I absolutely adore this movie. It’s very obviously an analogue for racism and how it doesn’t matter what’s in our background but in our actions. I love Judy’s optimism, naivete, passion, and sass. Nick is her perfect opposite as he’s lived on “the streets” and had to learn to take of himself at an early age… plus there’s the whole bit about the fox from Judy’s youth and her parents insisting she take fox repellent. I mean the existence of “fox” repellent as opposed to just a pepper spray or something is horrifying in a supposedly advanced society.

Mr. Big from Zootopia, in his chair
“Daddy, no icing on my wedding day… you promised!”

The world that was created, was created with care. The different areas for the different animals was so well done, especially when all of the big, tough polar bears were working for a tiny godfather rat… just superb. The villain being the timid little assistant mayor was also fantastic and the use of the recording carrot pen, just wonderful. It never got old. The moment where Judy reaches for the fox repellent and she crushes both Nick and herself is, well, absolutely crushing. She realizes that no matter how much time they had spent together and how much she believed that anyone could be anything, she had been taught hate and fear that reared its ugly head when the chips were down.

Mr. and Mrs. Otterton
My significant otter ❤ ❤ ❤

It’s something we all have to understand about ourselves… it’s there. When I am walking alone at night, I am weary of absolutely everyone. A man of any color might hurt or rape me, a woman or any color might lure me to be kidnapped by sex traffickers, and folks who drive are never paying attention. I want to live in a country, in a world, where a woman can have the same opportunities as a man, where who you love and how you dress does not influence how people treat you, and where we all respect each other and treat each other with kindness. Today, I have more hope than yesterday… but we all need to get on board. Let go of old grudges, let the past be the past, let’s all move forward together and truly make the world a wonderful place for everyone to live in… including the animals. TOOT TOOT.

TA Out!

VOY: “Dragon’s Teeth”

Date: January 19, 2021

Season 6, Episode 7

Music Video of the Day:

“The Great Beyond” by R.E.M.
“I’m looking for answers from the great beyond.”

Interstellar News: My grandfather-in-law passed today after a long battle with various illnesses, so it was a somber day in our house. Except it was also the first day of the semester so I worked like a crazy person while I set the husband person on the couch with the pupper to keep him warm and they rested and collected themselves. I dedicate this post to Grandpa Don.

TL;DR: The Vaadwaur are under attack and go into stasis so they can be revived when things are more settled. Almost 900 years later Voyager is pulled into a subspace corridor, the Turei help them out and then demand to board them to wipe the data… so Voyager lands on a seemingly uninhabited planet. Seven wakes up Gedrin and some of the other Vaadwaur who form an alliance against the Turei who have stolen the corridors from them. Some of the Vaadwaur decide to double-cross Janeway, but Neelix and Seven use their Talaxian and Borg databases to piece together their story. With Gedrin’s help, Voyager escapes but 50 Vaadwaur ships make it to the corridors and Voyager is no closer to home.

Favorite Quote:

Janeway: Seven, what are you doing?

Seven of Nine: I’ve activated the reanimation sequence. He may be able to provide us with answers.

Tuvok: We don’t know anything about this species. They could be hostile.

Seven of Nine: Most humanoid cultures are.

Tuvok being prophetic and Seven being sassy and correct.
What year is it? Robin Williams in JUMANJI
oh, only about 900 years later. It’s totally fine.

“I wanted to help revive a civilization, not start a war.”: Anyone who knows me, knows I love dragons… so I was disappointed there were no scaly creatures in this episode. After several character-focused episodes, it’s nice to have one where most of the crew has something to do and it’s interesting to see how the Vaadwaur act throughout the story. This reminds me a bit of “The Thaw” with respect to the stasis pods and people wanting to rebuild society at a later date. I will admit I don’t totally buy Gedrin’s disloyalty to his people, but maybe he was so grateful to Janeway for trying to save them he didn’t want to bring them into his squabble. If only they had stuck to the original plan, the Vaadwaur would have had a new home world where they could begin to rebuild and the crew would have been closer to home because they were able to make use of some of the subspace corridors that allowed so much travel in such little time. Sigh. 7 mountain goats mewing for the whole world to hear!

TA Out!

Sports Night: “The Apology”

Date: January 18, 2021

Season 1, Episode 2

Music Video of the Day:

“Apologize” by Timbaland, featuring OneRepublic.

Interstellar News: One more load of laundry complete and a run to BJ’s to grab non-perishables, frozen potatoes, and a new shoe rack for the coat closet means it was a busy day. It’s also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S., so I hope you did something to honor his memory today.

Favorite Quote:

Isaac: You know I love you, don’t you?

Dan: Yeah.

Isaac: And because I love you that I can say this: no rich, young, white guy ever got anywhere with me comparing himself to Rosa Parks. Got it?

Dan: Yes, sir.

Isaac: Good.

Isaac explaining, in no uncertain terms, that he is not to be fucked with

“But then you miss the battle.”: There are two big parts to this episode: Jeremy’s first highlight tape and Dan’s interview and apology. We’ll start with Jeremy. Natalie has developed feelings for Jeremy so she asks Casey to help Jeremy with the highlight tape, and yes it’s on VHS. The tape should be 30 – 40 seconds long but Jeremy’s is almost 9 minutes long because he wants to tell a story instead of just doing the regular thing. He and Casey go back and forth for a while until Dana puts her producer hat on and says the three things she wants editing to show. It’s a wonderful set up to so many things… Natalie and Jeremy, Jeremy’s newness to the business but his passion for sports, Casey’s love of helping (and arguing), and Dana reeling them all back in.

Casey looks at Dan
“Apologize to who?”

The second bit of the episode deals with the fallout from an interview Dan did where he admits he doesn’t oppose the legalization of marijuana. The network wants him to apologize, which he does in a very big way. Dan explains his younger brother looked up to him, got drunk and high, and then died in a car accident when he was 16. It’s a very raw and personal moment and the set up is absolutely beautiful. At first everyone things Dan has frozen or won’t apologize, but then he tells this story that absolutely no one knew and everyone is quiet and then things start to flow as normal like nothing happened. Casey takes his cue to change the subject to the Starland Vocal Band (as “Afternoon Delight” plays in the background) because Casey still thinks it’s cool and it instantly diffuses the situation. It’s a heavy episode to follow the pilot, but the Jeremy stuff helps temper it and it’s another episode that I love! And yes, the Muppets are very, very cool.

TA Out!

VOY: “Riddles”

Date: January 17, 2021

Season 6, Episode 6

Music Video of the Day:

“Who’s Gonna Save Us?” by The Living End
Joe Biden, that’s who

Interstellar News: Did two loads of laundry (sheet and towels), made a wonderful dinner, and did grocery shopping for the week. Go me!

TL;DR: Tuvok and Neelix are on their way back from an away mission when Tuvok is attacked by an unseen force the Keset later identify as the Ba’Neth. Problem is the Ba’Neth have never actually been seen but Naroq believes they are behind several other attacks. Tuvok is unconscious at first, and then wakes up because of Neelix’s perseverance… but he is more like a scared child and much less like the Tuvok we’ve always known. He tries to become his old self but later finds joy in having fun with Neelix and baking for the crew. He finally remembers the cloaking frequency and together Voyager and Naroq work on tracking the Ba’Neth down so they can get more information on the weapon used in order to help Tuvok. They find them, make an agreement, and Tuvok reluctantly returns to his usual self… though he does provide a non-logical answer to Neelix’s riddle.

Favorite Quote:

EMH: There have been rare cases in which comatose patients responded to external stimuli. Aromas, touch, voices.

Neelix: So, you’re saying that if I stay here and, and try to talk to Tuvok, I might be able to provoke some sort of response?

EMH: If anyone can provoke Tuvok, Mr. Neelix, it’s you.

The EMH giving some hope to a very hopeless Neelix, who just needs to do SOMETHING.
Frank as the original TV Riddler
Janeway: “With all due respect, we’re more interested in saving Tuvok’s life.”
Naroq: “If we work together, maybe we can do both.”

“I have no desire for fun.”: One of my favorite closet cosplays is my “Lady Riddler”, so I’m always interested in new riddles, and the one given by Neelix at the top of the episode is not only fun, it’s also used wonderfully again at the end of the episode to show that maybe Tuvok remembers what happened when he wasn’t quite himself and he’s making an effort to be less of a Vulcan. I liked Naroq, although he seemed like a conspiracy theorist at first, as he was truly more interested in satisfying his curiosity and saving Tuvok’s life than making an enemy out of Voyager or the Ba’Neth. This was also a wonderful vehicle for both Neelix and Tuvok as characters. Neelix always wants to help and he’s sort of a jack of all trades, but he also doesn’t have any formal training in counseling or cognitive development so he’s just making it up as he goes along. Tuvok is able to be a child and experience life, and I love that he bakes because that takes a really scientific and math-based mind, which is perfect for a Vulcan who doesn’t have to be logical about everything all the time. The two of them together, especially at the end, brought warm fuzzies to my heart because it was so damn adorable. This episode earns 8 really long charging cords from me.

TA Out!