Entertainment
Is The New Star Trek Spinoff About To Redeem Its Worst Character?
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
While many Star Trek fans dislike various characters in Starfleet Academy, the one they hate the most isn’t one of the main characters. Like members of the early Discovery bridge crew, she has a name, but almost nobody watching actually knows it. To them, she’s mostly “the girl who ate her comm badge.”
This character (who is actually named Pickford) has only appeared in three episodes so far, and she’s always in the background, being generally useless. So useless, in fact, that you might find yourself wondering why the writers put such a stupid character in their prestige sci-fi show. Now, some Star Trek fans have a compelling theory about Pickford: that her stupidity is just an act, and she’s secretly a spy for Nus Braka!
The Woman Who Knew Too Little
In the very first episode of Starfleet Academy (“Kids These Days”), Pickford stood out in the worst possible way, nervously admitting to the Doctor that she had swallowed her comm badge. Critics pointed to this as an example of the new show having the kind of broad comedy more suitable to a Saturday morning cartoon than a new Star Trek show. After all, this was a character training to be the best of the best, but she appeared to have the wits and intelligence of a toddler in her first appearance.
She doesn’t acquit herself very well later, either: in that premiere episode, she has a full-on meltdown after Nus Braka’s pirate attack. Later, she’s rude to the holographic SAM, and in the most recent episode (“Come, Let’s Away”), she had another panic attack in a tense situation and had to be escorted off the bridge. So far, Pickford has revealed herself to be rude, stupid, and completely useless in almost any situation, prompting a growing number of Star Trek fans to ask why she was put in the show in the first place.
A Secret Spy?
Apart from just being annoying, the biggest issue with Pickford is that she doesn’t seem to be Starfleet material. Sure, she’s in the academy and wears the uniform, but she seems to have none of the emotional and mental discipline you’d expect from a future Starfleet officer. This is in direct contrast to Starfleet Academy‘s Big Bad Nus Braka, who presents himself as a goofy joke (complete with cackling monologues about time being an origami chicken) but is secretly hypercompetent.
That competence was on full display in “Come, Let’s Away,” an episode where Starfleet asks for his help in defeating nefarious villains known as the Furies. Braka pretends to cooperate, but he manipulates the situation to his advantage and has his flunkies destroy a Starfleet vessel. Later, he disables and ransacks an entire Starbase, which is quite the accomplishment; sure, the Klingons in Discovery took out a base, but now, a simple space pirate was able to obtain the same accomplishment as one of the fiercest space empires the galaxy has ever known.
In “Come, Let’s Away,” this is presented as evidence that Nus Braka is a criminal genius, but some fans aren’t buying it. A growing number of viewers believe that the only way this skeezy pirate is able to so consistently outwit the smartest people in the quadrant is because he has someone on the inside, feeding him information. The primary suspect, surprisingly enough, is the girl who fed herself a comm badge!
Hiding In Plain Sight
Why do people think Nus Braka has a spy within Starfleet? For one thing, he has shown up whenever Chancellor Ake takes her students into space; this was explained in the first episode (he tracked Caleb’s transmission), but in the second episode, he seems to know enough about the Furies and their plan to coordinate an attack that destroyed a Starfleet ship and crippled a Starbase. He was likely coordinating with the Furies and possibly with his spy, which might be why he attacked a Starbase that focuses on researching (as Nelrec says) “classified things.”
Obviously, there are many characters that could be potential spies for Nus Braka: Genesis is still very mysterious and seems to share the space pirate’s Daddy issues. Nelrec is continually disillusioned by working with Starfleet, so he might very well team up with Chancellor Ake’s biggest enemy. Heck, even the Doctor may have become disillusioned enough (or just reprogrammed) to change sides, and since multiple versions of this character exist in the galaxy, Braka might have even replaced the Voyager Doctor with a copy loyal to him.
However, I agree with the fans who think Pickford is a secret spy: antics like swallowing her comm badge are a great way to ensure that nobody thinks she is smart enough to be a double agent. Plus, her frequent meltdowns could just be a convenient way to take her out of the action. For example, she could have easily communicated with Nus Braka in “Come, Let’s Away” after being escorted from the bridge, transmitting to the pirate once she is in her quarters and away from prying eyes and ears.
Is Starfleet Academy About To Redeem Its Worst Character?
There is no definitive proof that Nus Braka has a spy, and he may very well just be the criminal mastermind he presents himself as. But now that the Federation has placed him at the top of their Most Wanted list, it stands to reason we’ll see more of this villain going forward. Honestly, it would be downright shocking if we don’t get some big reveals in the season finale, and a secret spy update would be the biggest reveal of them all.
Right now, all my latinum is on Pickford, if only because it would be such a delightful heel turn: how cool would it be if the dumbest, most incompetent cadet turns out to be the biggest traitor since Seska? This would redeem Starfleet Academy’s throwaway character in the most unexpected way and give us a new villain to hate. If nothing else, she and Nus Braka could have an earnest, onscreen debate about the most pressing question in the galaxy: what tastes better, a comm badge or an origami chicken?
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 26, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you’re a shining star.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
Sheen.
Mashable Top Stories
Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
The letter S appears twice.
Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Nominate your favorite creators today
Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter G.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
GLOSS
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
Entertainment
Alan Ritchson's Extremely Graphic Sci-Fi Series Is The Best Show You've Never Watched
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Before he was Reacher, but after he was Thad, Alan Ritchson played Barbie. Not that Barbie, Arthur Bailey, the hero of SyFy’s wild series, Blood Drive. A throwback to the grindhouse cinema of the 70s, Blood Drive is the most twisted series to air on the cable channel. If you think a show about a cross-country death race in a future wrecked by environmental catastrophe and controlled by a mega corporation sounds like Death Race 2000 or Twisted Metal, well, you’re right. There’s one small difference. The cars in Blood Drive run on human blood.
Gas Is People
Set years after the United States was cracked in half by earthquakes along the Mississippi river, Blood Drive’s evil corporation, Heart Enterprises, has monopolized the rare resources exposed by the massive fault. Water’s scarce, and gas is hard to come by, so of course the solution is cars that run on blood, which have helpful grinders built into the engines for sticking human bodies. Not all of them have that of course, but when you see the inside of the psychotic Grace’s (Christina Ochoa) car, you won’t soon forget it.
Grace and Arthur, a cop trying to do the right thing, are reluctantly partnered for the cross-country race. Together, they hit one nightmare after another on the open highway, from cannibals to Amazons, with every new city and rest stop hiding a deadly secret. Every now and then, they stumble across a small town in need of a few good men. Except this is Blood Drive. There are no heroes here.
It’s no surprise which character ended up becoming the fan favorite: Julian Sink, the Blood Drive Master of Ceremonies. Played over the top by Stargate’s Colin Cunningham (also John Pope in TNT’s Falling Skies), no one can out dandy Sink. He’s eccentric, he might be insane, and you can’t help but be charmed by the man with personality to spare.
Blood Drive Was Pure Grindhouse Fun
Alan Ritchson’s involvement in Blood Drive seems weird to everyone who only knows him from Reacher. Ritchson’s sense of humor lands right in the Grindhouse aesthetic, which is why he can deliver lines like “why are hot girls so mean,” when the Amazon Queen has him tied down. It’s an insane series that is well-served by the case-of-the-week setup. In addition to the Amazons and cannibals, there are nymphomaniacs, zombies, an asylum, a fight club, and an Asian martial arts-inspired episode. Again, this is an insane series filled with blood, guts, and sex. Thanks to the two leads, there’s something here to appeal to anyone.
Blood Drive only lasted one season and it sort of wraps up the story. SyFy cited poor ratings, but then again, they didn’t do a whole lot of marketing for the show that sounds ridiculous at first, and remains ridiculous, but it hides a wicked sense of black humor. Blood Drive is hard to find streaming, with episodes only available for purchase from YouTube and Fandango at Home, and the Blu-Ray has been out of print for nearly a decade.
If you can find it, Blood Drive is the perfect watch for anyone who enjoys the old-school grindhouse aesthetic, or wants something that dares to be different. The best part of the series though, the fake commercials for Grindhouse movies, the same gag used by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse double-feature, are left off the home video releases. Still, if you want to see Alan Ritchson murder people, or Colin Cunningham have the time of his life, it’s worth hunting down a copy of SyFy’s bloodiest series ever.
Entertainment
How The Best Fantasy Movie Of The Decade Was Destroyed By Corporate Greed
By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated
The most successful fantasy films of all time, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Harry Potter, have reigned at the top of the mountain for decades, yet the genre has experienced a resurgence in recent years thanks to the rise of podcasts. Actual play podcasts featuring players going through a tabletop RPG have become one of the hottest genres of the new medium, and the best of them, including Critical Role, Dimension 20, and Not Another D&D Podcast, were based on Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition.
You’d think that 2023’s Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, the best fantasy movie of the last decade, would have become a hit, but instead it disappointed at the box office (ironically, thanks to the franchise owner, Wizards of the Coast, horrible timing). Now it’s finally developing a following.
A Tabletop Adventure On The Big Screen
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves picks up after the adventuring party of Edvin the Bard (Chris Pine), Holga the Barbarian (Michelle Rodriguez), Simon the Sorcerer (Justice Smith), Doric the Druid (Sophia Lillis), and Forge the Thief (Hugh Grant) were betrayed by the obviously evil wizard Sofina (Daisy Head). Out for revenge, Evin and Holga get the band back together, go into an actual dungeon complete with a dragon, and pull off a fantastical heist.
The film has everything fans of the game have wanted to see on the big screen for decades, including an aarakocra and a cameo appearance by the characters from the 80s Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon. Actual spells from the tabletop game are used, and real mechanics were played out.
All of this helped make the rollicking adventure feel like someone’s homebrew campaign brought to life. Even for those who don’t play the tabletop game, the comedy beats all and makes it a fun fantasy adventure.
Why Dungeons & Dragons Failed To Find A Big Theater Audience
Mere weeks before Honor Among Thieves was released, Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns Dungeons and Dragons, did something so heinous it caused a boycott by fans. For more than 20 years, the game had operated under the Open Gaming License (OGL).
That OGL let independent writers and small companies create adventures, rulebooks, podcasts, and entire businesses built around D&D without fear of being shut down. And Wizards of the Coast decided to end it all.
A leaked draft of a new license Wizards of the Coast was planning appeared online. The Open Game License was being changed so that Wizards would get a 25 percent cut of everything fans earn when a creator makes more than $750,000 from monetizing the game. Worse still, the new terms would ban all online tabletop simulators and allow Wizards of the Coast to claim sole ownership of anything created by fans.
This leak of the company’s plans sparked a firestorm in the Dungeons & Dragons community. Core fans revolted en masse. An organic, fan-driven boycott of the company and everything it was involved with began. That boycott included the movie, meaning the group of people Hollywood expected as the film’s core supporters were not only avoiding it, but actively campaigning to keep it from being seen. It worked.
The film received a favorable response from those who saw it, with a 91 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes from over 300 reviews by critics and a matching 92 percent from over 2,000 reviews by the public. Yet Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves underperformed, barely squeaking by with $200 million worldwide. That failure is undeniable, but it’s not the fault of the movie. Honor Among Thieves was destroyed by the greed of the company that owns its IP.
The backlash became so intense that Wizards eventually reversed course and released key D&D rules under a Creative Commons license, making them far harder to control in the future. But that change was too late to save Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Standing On Its Own
Removed from the drama of early 2023, Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves can now stand on its own merit. Thanks to streaming, audiences are watching and enjoying the movie.
Unfortunately, the movie’s weak performance destroyed the hope of a sequel. However, if Honor Among Thieves continues to gain a much-deserved cult following, there’s always a chance that the writer/director duo of Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (who also worked with Pine on Horrible Bosses 2) will get another chance to bring the game to life.
Whether Honor Among Thieves gets the sequel it deserves or not, thanks to streaming, fans can enjoy the funniest fantasy movie since Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and newcomers can get a taste of what it’s like to play the most popular tabletop role-playing game in the world.
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