229. Stupid Sexy Sarek (DSC 1.01 and 1.02)

Remember 2017? Taylor Swift released Reputation. Kendall Jenner fixed racism with a Pepsi ad. And Star Trek returned to the small screen with the launch of Discovery.  Anika and Liz go back in time to revisit the series which led us to become friends and launch a podcast ... and we are excited! We're starting with "The Vulcan Hello" and "The Battle at the Binary Stars", in which Michael Burnham has a very bad day.  "I am one of the first 500 people to sign up for CBS All Access. Which is a dubious claim." These episodes are not bad, but they are a terrible introduction to the series, both in terms of its ongoing tone and themes, and in terms of making people want to see more "Can I just say? T'Kuvma could get it." We are not opposed to subtitles, but the specific "Klingon" font used by CBS All Access was straight up hard to read Does the premiere ask too much of the audience? Both in terms of asking them to empathise with complex characters they've just met, and also in having basic media literacy? (Michael Burnham Did Not Start The War.) Saru's relentless negativity makes him a difficult character to like Returning to our roots as The Sarek Podcast The Klingons are MAGA, but they're also very Brexit-era Britain We are once again criticising the Federation's carceral state