If Starfleet disciplinary hearings are directly conducted by the UFP president, that raises even more questions, and certainly doesn’t dispel the notion of a “military government”…

Neither humanity nor the Federation are run by a military government.

While I agree with you that it’s almost certainly not the intent, we unfortunately have seen that a shocking number of uniformed Starfleet officers sit on the Federation Council.

I really do hate “Retrospect”.

But I think my answer to the question is “evolution.”

Arf arf

You should have seen what happened the last time it had contact with another.

After careful deliberation, you’re forgiven.

Yeah, it was doomed to be restricted to one ship from day one, with arguably increasingly contrived excuses as time passed (down to exterminating poor Book’s entire species!).

It’s a damn shame we never got to see the JahSepp again.

Honestly, I’ll defend the ideas underpinning the spore drive all day. Mycelial networks are deeply weird IRL, and the idea of “what if there was one that grows through subspace” is an interesting extrapolation from that. “Physics as biology” is a pretty fresh and interesting idea for the franchise to explore (and I’m totally here for the argument that they didn’t explore it enough).

I don’t think I can agree with that - plenty of Lower Decks episodes seemed reverse-engineered around whatever legacy actors they were able to book, and other legacy actors were just sort of…stuffed in there.

I would agree that they always crafted meaningful stories around that stuff, but that stuff is still pretty foundational - moreso than perhaps any show besides the third season of Picard, which I would enthusiastically hold up as an example of “fan service” (I don’t love the term, but whatever, it fits) done very poorly.

I don’t recall saying I liked the idea. That has no bearing on my interest in discerning what the hell you were talking about.

That interest has reached its limit, though.

Where’s the comparison?

You seem to be taking the fact that they rejected a pitch for a show that you think is a bad idea as evidence that they don’t hire what they’re dung, which is…truly dizzying.

That’s an awfully strong reaction to a rejected pitch…

It’s very unclear when, exactly, this pitch was made.

But heck, Jean-Luc Picard was 59 to Stewart’s 47, so I’m not sure it matters.

Are they comfortable?

Yeah, the episode goes out of its way to establish that both families are very well-intentioned.

somehow, there doesn’t appear to be a legal system with a metal sphere gavel and the social worker from Mrs Doubtfire presiding just yet

The adoptive and biological parents couldn’t decide on which planet’s law should apply, and mutually agreed to Sisko as a mediator. Which seems questionable, but at least they addressed it, I suppose.

And yeah, there are no winners here, but all other things being equal, it probably should be policy to return children to their birth families.

It’s in a weird spot - they picked it up for a second season very early on, but then cancelled it. So we’re in this weird position of knowing there’s another season coming, but also that it will be the last one.

The cast and showrunners of Starfleet Academy.