I agree he’s not the best Captain Kirk, but I did enjoy his performance in the time travel episode (might have just been the writing and La’an performance like you said, though).
Now what we need is more George Samuel leaving crumbs and annoying Spock energy. I mean, the dude’s only got 8 years or so live… Give our boy some screen time!
Part of me is like, “Seriously! Mire multiverse stuff! Can we take a break, please?”, while the other half of me is like, “If it’s as good as LD or PRO multiverse stuff, I’ll take it!”
I am a bit worried about the fourth wall breaking stuff, but I wonder if they’re doing a Benny Russell “dreamer and the dream”-type thing, which might be fun.
The Clue episode looks fun. The trailer makes it look like this season is 75% quasi-holodeck episodes, which would be quite funny but is probably not the cases.
Star Trek: The Search for Hemmer.
"You will never attain the 24th level of awareness."
I agree with you. Thinking on it, I wonder if that's only a season 1 premise and they'll eventually get beyond that.
Now what would make it really interesting (but they probably won't do) is if this comedy had a backdrop of a weakened postwar Dominion a.k.a this resort planet is in the Gamma Quadrant. It would be very interesting to use it to explore the new power structures that develop in the quadrant since the weakened power of the Founders. You could also showcase how Alpha quadrant polities interact with Dominion worlds (kind of like what we saw with the Karemma in LD "Hear All, Trust Nothing") - we have an episode with Federation diplomats at the resort negotiating a trade deal, for instance (this could even be our excuse to bring in an LD character or two).
Unfortunately, it's not a Lower Decks continuation - I'm pretty sure that's the Tawny Newsome comedy about “Federation outsiders serving a gleaming resort planet find out their day-to-day exploits are being broadcast to the entire quadrant."
However, the involvement of Tawny Newsome makes me hopeful it will be good at least. I guess it also opens us to LD cameos at the bare minimum kind of like how they found a way to shoehorn Riker into pretty much every Trek show (I guess even technically DSC and SNW, if you count directing and/or Boimler doing the chair thing).
Admittedly, it would also be fun if they had a neo-Miranda class (perhaps we could call it Terrell class) Cerritos, but despite a similar role, it's not called the Cerritos A; it has an entirely new registry number because they somehow managed to forget about the original Cerritos.
TLDR; I believe Generations is the best of the TNG films and easily in the top 5 classic films, even if the TNG film series as a whole falls short.
I admit that overall, I would call TOS films the better series of Trek films - Search for Spock and Final Frontier are probably the only ones I wouldn't rewatch, meaning 2/3 overall of the TOS films are actually enjoyable in my opinion. In comparison, I am not a fan of half the TNG movies (NEM and Insurrection).
However, I disagree with lumping all the Next Generation movies as "completely null"; First Contact was at least reasonably fun. My biggest complaint might be the Guinan snub for Barclay.
Meanwhile, I feel like Generations is the rare Star Trek film that really just feels like a 2 hour episode (with TMP and maybe Voyage Home the only two other ones like it). I enjoyed the mortality commentary (almost worth the sacrifice of Picard's entire family, but not quite), while nothing strikes me as more classically Star Trek than campily choreographed fight scenes between a bunch of old men. I also personally enjoyed Data's arc - I feel like they made sure when it got annoying, it was purposeful, and they dialed it back right when they needed to.
Overall, I don't think it's fair to lump the first two TNG films into the bottom 5 like their later counterparts (which do deserve it); Generations probably joins Voyage Home for my favorite Trek films to rewatch.
Anyhow, have a wonderful evening. 🖖
I love Generations. Now disliking V is something I could get behind.
Bem better come apart, or this one will make sure someone else does. 
I agree Kim was worth it. “Fissure Quest” is a wonderful episode that offsets a bit of the disappointment of the finale (which, while underwhelming, I would hardly call a bad episode). I certainly would love it to continue in some form.
I loved Malor, but am annoyed a bit what they did with Ma’ah in the end - how does this guy go from “Beckett is honorable” immediately after meeting her to near instantly distrusting her? They should have found a way to allow Boimler that moment without it being at Ma’ah’ expense.
I’m on a TNG rewatch right now, but I’ll probably be right back to LD before very long.
When the LD SB80 episode mentioned Matt and Kimolu were infected on an away mission, it reignited some thoughts/questions about how the lives of Cetacean officers in an era of Trek where whales are beginning to become more common as crew members.
Here's the discussion that I think can be had within current canon: I can't help but notice what seems to be a difference in the quality of life between Gillian on Voyager-A and Matt and Kimolu on the Cerritos.
Sure, Matt and Kimolu don't have as flashy or futuristic-looking of an aquarium, but in addition to having each other, the pool-like design of their accommodations allows them easy interaction (a.k.a parties) with the crew. I feel like there's much more opportunity for them to have a fulfilling social life on the Cerritos.
In comparison, Gillian feels very enclosed and isolated from the rest of Voyager; there's always glass between here and the crew (as humpbacks sometimes need to surface, I image there's probably an area with some air in the aquarium), and people are shown having to wear full suits to be in the same space as her. In addition, there's no other whale with her. In fact, we don't really see a staff of officers in Cetacean ops - just Rok. It seems like a very lonely existence.
Of course, a lot of these seeming inequalities can be attributed to circumstance rather than neglect on Starfleet's part. For one, Gillian, canonically a humpback, is more than triple the size of Matt or Kimolu, belugas, so it's much harder to design any space at all for her on a starship, let alone one that gives her the freedom to safely interact with crew.
As for being the only humpback on Voyager, this is probably because there just aren't that many - her species was only repopulated less than a century ago during the whale probe incident.
Now, here's some more difficult-to-answer questions:
These questions definitely can't be answered with current lore, but I guess we can imagine and/or extrapolate from how Starfleet has accommodated other non-humanoid officers.
Flans looks like the statue really did get him high in that last frame frame
If you want to buy the thing: https://tmbgshop.com/collections/all/products/the-spine-surfs-alone-rarities-1998-2005-180g-translucent-red-vinyl
Seriously, though. I think I've seen this guy in the grocery store down here in AZ.
Let's bring glory to our friends in Cetacean ops!
Okay, I admit Vendome came after, but still, it's not like ops/security/engineering people have never become captain. Plus, come on. Vendome's face was just begging to be memed.
The main example I can think of from canonically before this moment is Uhura, though everyone was wearing red uniforms at the time.
I have several that I've leaned towards over the years, but I recently added "Cyclops Rock" to my repertoire.
EDIT: Clarified that in Endgame, I was talking about alpha quadrant Starfleet officers.
For your first question, I'd agree with others that it was a possible future that just didn't happen in the Prime Timeline - there is a timeline out there where "All Good Things" didn't happen and so that's the future there. It was the future until Picard saw it.
As for your second, I would say it was still a false positive. It's just we didn't have enough Borg shenanigans in the TNG era alt future timelines for anyone to care about the difference, combined with Jack Crusher probably never being born.
For the uniforms, my overall theory is that what we saw as the the early 2380s uniform and mid-2380s badge design process started in the mid-to-late 2370's. The overall more peaceful nature of each of the three timelines with the alternate future uniform meant that either the TNG uniform (for "All Good Things" and "The Visitor") or First Contact uniform ("Endgame", for Alpha quadrant personnel) lasted into roughly the late 2380s or early 2390s. This gave more time for the concept for what would have been the prime 2380s uniform to develop before rolling out much later in about the mid 2390s, slightly changing the uniform shape and getting rid of the black area on top. This uniform design was very persistent against temporal interference, but it was no match for the timeline alterations by Voyager's early return, which caused a faster design cycle and early rollout for what became the early 2380s uniform and Starfleet uniforms in general.
I especially see it in this comparison:
Here's some deeper analysis if you want it, contained in spoilers to keep post length down (lots of nitpicking and rants about Klingon-Federation relations):
"All Good Things"
spoiler
Without a lot of temporal interference, this uniform arises. I think we can infer by Beverly still being in Starfleet that this is a relatively peaceful timeline to, meaning that influential uniform designers have lower change of death or being gripped by despair and making DS9-style uniforms.There is the breakdown in Klingon relations, but that seems to be a common motif (like in "The Visitor"), and it's more of a cold war status than a Borg, Dominion, etc. kind of threat.
Otherwise, we don't have enough information on this timeline to firmly establish events. However, I infer this might be a timeline where the Dominion War was averted (or delayed) and Martok never became chancellor, as that event was sort of like another Narendra and if it didn't happen, a relationship deterioration with the Empire.
Evidence of this is in LD with Ma'ah's opinion that the Federation "earned its toduj" in the Dominion War, suggesting that event swayed his opinion on the Federation and likely others. This coculd be countered by the actions of Dorg and Bargh, showing that the views aren't universal. However, I think the relative level-headedness Bargh's fellow council members suggest that the brother's views are not a mainstream political view in the empire, at least in the 2380s.
(You could probably use STO stuff as counter to my argument, but I think the timeline of that game is motivated by a desire for a plot amenable to gameplay. I'm primarily going with alpha canon.)
As I said before, we can be certain that the "All Good Things" timeline was averted by Picard being aware of it, and that all timelines after are not that timeline.
"The Visitor"
spoiler
The fact that the uniform still pops up in this different timeline suggests that it's rather pervasive and takes a lot of temporal interference to get rid of it. Of note is the fact that it appears in 2422, 20-30 years later than either "All Good Things" or "Endgame", which might suggest this uniform becomes the 24th/25th century equivalent of the monster maroons.Notably, Commander Nog appears with a TNG uniform and DS9 combadge... in 2389. This suggests that this timeline at least skipped First Contact, early 2380s, and mid-to-late 2380s uniforms, opting to keep the TNG uniform in for decades. This is kind of weird considering "Endgame", which I'll reconcile later. Anyhow, perhaps uniform designers had been toying with something like the prime early 2380s design; due to its longer time for development, when it was finally rolled out much later than prime, it manifested differently from its closest prime counterpart.
I think we can infer once again that the Dominion War was averted. For one, there's the reasons I provided above. I also think DS9 would sort of be sacred ground for the Klingons and it would feel almost wrong to them to take it outright if the Dominion War had happened like prime. The suggestion is further made by the fact that the Federation withdrew from DS9 in 2374, which would have been during the Dominion War in the prime timeline; this never would have happened with the wartime Alpha Quadrant alliance.
Additionally, we can tell the war never happened like prime because the Defiant was never destroyed - we can tell because they needed the ship to be basically the same to replicate the accident, and it was, judging by Jadzia's nostalgic reaction in the episode. If it were the second Defiant, there would have been differences as noted in DS9's "The Dogs of War".
Thus, basing on the first two timelines, it would seem like this uniform tends to arise when there are few mysterious threats, only regular ones.
"Endgame"
spoiler
"Endgame" is unique in that it is the only timeline where the uniform appears and the Dominion War did happen, based on the chronology. What makes it weird is that this timeline did have the First Contact uniforms (for the Alpha quadrant personnel, not the Voyager crew, of course), meaning a possibly different design lineage for the future uniforms here.To reconcile, it might be possible that in this timeline, the First Contact uniform roughly replaced what would have been the expanded life span of the TNG uniform (with error bars of a few years or so due to butterfly effect) instead of being slowly phased out in the early 2380s. Once again, the uniform concepts for what would have been the prime early 2380s uniforms were festering in the designers' heads as early as the mid-to-late 2370s and went through a similar development cycle to "The Visitor"'s timeline.
The state of Klingon relations in this episode is further evidence pointing to the role of the Dominion War in Federation-Klingon relations - B'Elanna's role and influence as a Klingon liason (based on Janeway's request) as well as Janeway's initially relatively easy dealings with Korath suggest relations are in a good state in this timeline with the Dominion War.
Despite the Dominion War happening, this timeline seems like it's also somewhat peaceful (only based on vibes, not canon analysis), considering that everyone on Voyager is either still in touch or dead - if this was one of those Picard-y timelines, at least would be a moody vigilante ex-Starfleet officer in some far off corner of the quadrant where no one can contact them.
I'd also say the anti-Borg/acquired Borg technology in this timeline might give an explanation for why the other timelines are so peaceful: the more organic technological development improved Fed security in all of them.
The fact that this uniform never appears again after this timeline suggests the early return of Voyager was the final straw for this uniform. We can't pinpoint exactly what happened, but I can think of a few different scenarios. The most likely one is something about Voyager's early return triggered a shorter design cycle of the future uniforms, leading instead to the early 2380s uniforms. Perhaps the early introduction of Borg defense tech to the prime timeline through Voyager's return caused a sudden leap followed by stagnation that either weakened Starfleet defenses in the long term, or Starfleet just wasn't ready to handle this stuff in 2378. Alternatively, maybe some key designers of that uniform got butterflied into a shuttle accident, or the timeline got so depressing that they decided to pump out DS9-looking uniforms instead.