Entertainment
The Most Hated Star Trek Episode Is Incredibly Important For The Franchise's Future
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
For the most part, audience reception to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been quite positive thanks to the talented cast, solid writing, and insanely high production value. However, for many Star Trek fans, this show has had one misstep: the musical episode “Subspace Rhapsody.”
Admittedly, this episode pales in comparison to more successful musical episodes like Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Once More With Feeling” and the songs could be a little (okay, a lot) catchier. Still, I believe fans should nonetheless respect this controversial episode because it proves that the writers of sci-fi’s best franchise are still willing to take creative risks.
As longtime Star Trek fans know, the franchise hasn’t always exhibited the creativity that went into the musical episode of Strange New Worlds. For example, early episodes of The Next Generation recycled scripts written for a canceled Original Series sequel show which would have introduced new characters like Decker and Ilia. Those characters were later recycled for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and later inspired the characters of Riker and Troi in TNG.
The franchise has had some other derivative moments, of course. Deep Space Nine (a personal favorite) has long been accused of ripping off Babylon 5, and Star Trek: Nemesis is a lame retread of The Wrath of Khan. Speaking of Wrath of Khan, its nebula battle sequence was taken and recycled for episodes of The Next Generation and even Picard.
Star Trek has a long history of being derivative. Strange New Worlds’ musical episode is a refreshing reminder that the franchise is still capable of surprising us.
That didn’t keep many fans from wringing their hands about everything from the plot to its lyrical execution. Like a true geek chorus, most of these annoyed fans joined their voices to make a singular pronouncement: “Star Trek shouldn’t have a musical episode.” These fans have a very fixed idea of what the franchise should and shouldn’t do, and like a poorly-trained targ, they are always waiting to pounce on any episode or film that deviates from what they imagine Star Trek should be doing.
However, this is the kind of myopic view that does more than hold the franchise back. If such fans had their way, the franchise would have died decades ago.
The Next Generation is considered the best Star Trek show by many older fans, but not only was this series very different from The Original Series, it didn’t reach true greatness until it was free of the influence of franchise creator Gene Roddenberry.
In turn, Deep Space Nine became the true greatest Trek show ever made by explicitly ignoring the storytelling restrictions of previous shows. Those including Roddenberry’s ban on creating conflict between characters.
Even though I can’t hum a single tune or remember a single lyric, I admire Star Trek’s first musical episode because it proudly ignores all the rules. Historically, Star Trek has been held back by fans who want nothing more than to slingshot around the sun and return the franchise to some imagined golden age (like the ‘90s).
Star Trek would never have survived if the writers hadn’t been willing to take risks, and Strange New Worlds’ writers have realized a powerful truth: Star Trek can be anything. I should never again be held back by cranky fans who are unwilling to put down their TNG DVD sets and admire a franchise that has finally remembered the wisdom of James T. Kirk: “Risk is our business.” Strange New Worlds is ready to lead us into a better, brighter, and bolder future, one episode (and, yes, one song) at a time.
Entertainment
Access all your AI tools in one spot with this Chrome extension, now $75 for life
TL;DR: See answers from multiple AI models in one convenient spot thanks to ChatPlayground AI, now $74.97 for a lifetime subscription (reg. $619) through May 10.
Credit: ChatPlayground AI
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Topics
Artificial Intelligence
Entertainment
This $10 upgrade transforms your PC — but it’s only on sale until midnight
TL;DR: Upgrade a PC affordably with this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license, on sale for just $9.97 (reg. $199) through tonight at midnight.
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Rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro is filled with features that can improve your workflow — from an easy-to-use interface that enhances usability to snap layouts, seamless redocking, a more powerful search experience, and improved voice typing.
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Entertainment
3 AdultFriendFinder red flags — how to avoid scams on AFF
Depending on who you ask, AdultFriendFinder is either the Wild West of hookup sites, an “anything goes” paradise for adult fun, or a total scam replete with bots, fake profiles, and inactive accounts.
After months of personal testing, I can confidently say which AFF you experience ultimately boils down to how you use the site. If you approach it naively, without a strategy, you’re probably going to have some frustrating experiences. On the other hand, if you exercise a modicum of caution and common sense, you’ll discover a huge, fun, and kink-friendly community.
Here are three red flags to look out for as you use AFF, to help you spot potential scammers and separate the authentic users from the fake profiles.
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AdultFriendFinder
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Credit: AdultFriendFinder
Unverified accounts
AdultFriendFinder already offers a fantastic first step in combatting fake profiles that they call ConfirmID. Once you’ve created an account, you can, at any time, upload a clear scan of a government-issued ID card and then, using a webcam, undergo a quick face verification scan to confirm that you are indeed the person identified in the government document.
This step strikes the perfect balance between not being onerous enough to annoy the average user but still requiring enough effort to deter scammers, who notoriously go after the low-hanging fruit.
Mashable Trend Report
Once you’ve completed the ConfirmID sequence, you’ll be rewarded with a verification badge on your profile, and we strongly recommend that you limit your one-on-one interactions on the site to other verified users.
Perfect profile photos
Alright, admittedly this one requires some personal judgment, as everyone should strive to upload good, high-quality photos of themselves to dating websites. But if every photo looks like it belongs in a magazine, or if the person in the photo looks a little too good to be true, you should exercise caution.
In the age of generative AI and filters, it’s trivially easy to create a fake photo or series of photos, so you should also be on the lookout for what isn’t in the photos. Are there recognizable local landmarks (clubs, restaurants, well-known parks, or street corners) in the photos, or are they all equally generic?
Over-eager chatters
Ever since chat bots became a thing, dating sites have become plagued with them, and as AI improves more and more, it’s not always easy to know, right away, if the “person” you’re talking to is really human. One dead giveaway, though, is how much they chat and how quickly they reply.
Real people go off on tangents, employ non sequiturs, and sometimes stumble with awkward questions or comments. Chat bots, on the other hand, are typically always chipper and extremely fast-talking, so much so that a paragraph-long answer can come back to you in seconds.
They also almost always have an agenda, too, whether that’s directing you to click on a link (“Follow my Instagram profile”) or getting you to divulge some potentially compromising bit of personal information about yourself.
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