Spoilers for the Dune book series: I don't think it is at all clear what the Kiwsatz Haderach was, until the fourth book... and even then I found it necessary to have some perspective from the fifth. It is hard to me to believe any of the fantastical elements of the KH, which is pretty much what Paul Muad'Dib is after taking the water of life.

IMO, Dune P2 gives us some explicit evidence that Paul, pre-essence, is aware of some of the horror that waits him, as well as his drive to transform. In the novels, it is eventually made clear that he's completely rejecting the KW out of his deep, eternal love of Chani, and this isn't until the end of the second book. I feel like the two DV films lay all this out.

Even if we never get a DV Dune Messiah, I feel like people could watch the two DV existing films and jump immediately into the text of the second novel. In my own head, it would be far less jarring than going from the text of the original novel into its followup.

One of the big moments I felt was missing was related to that. They don't really touch it in the Lynch version either, honestly, but:

Spoilers for the book and movie:



But honestly, if we do get to the end of Chapterhouse and we've got psychic sex ninjas warring against the characters from the American Gothic painting, it'll all be worth it.

(Not an exaggeration. Stuff got weird)

What was in the spoiler box is one feature of the many political elements from the original novel that don't sit right with me. It is a decent enough line to end the book on, but for me

Hey, we'll get Dune: Prophecy/Sisterhood of the Traveling Stillsuits later this fall... I'm guessing it won't be worse than Rings of Power.

Not a watch, but a read in preparation of a watch:

Just finished reading Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones so I could be fully ready for Idea Man on Disney+. I unabashedly love all things Muppet, whether it be a Show or a Movie or some Babies. Even the less-loved recent Muppet efforts I find plenty of things to love because gosh darn it, they’re The Muppets.

The Biography is a thorough and complete examination of the life of one of the most important creative minds of the 20th century, if not of all time. And while it’s very informative, it’s never a drag to read, as one would hope of the life story of someone like Jim.

I highly recommend it to all of you wonderful folks.

Brad Meltzer's Ordinary People Change the World series has a Henson book, and it is incredible. Intended for the very young readers, but still worth it.

I finished Star Trek: Discovery, and I am glad this show got an ending. I don't think it embarrassed itself (like it did with all those rogue/evil AI plots) which is probably the best praise I can offer for it. I liked that we got to see a happy ending for two of the best actors/characters on the show.

There were a handful of things the finale did that left me shaking my head. After five seasons, I can't tell if ST:D wanted to honor the series that came before, or 'improve' upon them, or go on a different path. The first season was a radical departure from 'canon'... this didn't bother me, but because it couldn't help itself from leaning hard on past stories, and wanting to be fully integrated with the franchise, I don't feel like I got a very good SF series.

If I set aside a potential criticism of how the entire final season was predicated on an episode of ST:TNG, I'm flummoxed why it was necessary to have coda in the final episode be used to explicitly tie a ST:D character to one of the worst-received characters in the franchise's history (which I am guessing is a "wait, who?" for any casual watchers) Spoilers:

and then, go out of its way to set up the situation presenting in the Star Trek: Short Trek episode "Calypso". As if the fans were dying to know how that setup happened, and would be satisfied with a two minute scene to set that tableaux.

For the former, I feel like the writers were trying to evoke a "ha ha puzzle box!" feeling. For the latter, if it wasn't a "I bet you thought we forgot..." then it was a "we had a plan all along" moment. In many ways Zora wasn't written any better than a majority of the characters on the show, but for crying out loud... SF TV already had an ORAC!

I know there are a LOT of haters of ST:Discovery. I didn't hate it, but I was almost always disappointed with it.

As for Jim Henson... before I watch Idea Man, I think I will rewatch this YouTube series.

Discovery: Watched season 1,2 and 3 until they said they literally were eating their own number 2. then I found out the burn was because a screaming alien brat.

Watched also final episode.

Season 1: Horrible. season 2 loved how they hear the fans and change the holographic calls to screens, put hair on the klingons, explain the different uniforms etc, give us Pike, spock and a new awesome series!

then season 3 was horrible and the ending as well.

Thanks to Discovery I discover that if a series or tv show you really dont like, you can just stop watching. life is too short to stand things you don't like that much.

Watched the new Civil War movie.

Cap and Iron Man are not there, Spider-Man is not eighter.

Mary Jane looking not as nice as 20 years ago make me think that time is cruel to everybody.

Interesting movie warning of something that could happen.

The "Life is too short comment" made me think of a choice that Discovery made that struck me as odd... the production team basically decided to get rid of doors, and just have people teleport from room-to-room. While this seems like it might be a technological possibility, it makes me think that in addition to the characters being pretty lazy, it was more lazy on the part of the writers... I mean, characters could just walk off panel without being shown using a door if the team responsible for sets didn't want to build/operate doors.

That is fitting. after all transportation on star trek was created to not use landing ships effects originally. So, no money give you lots of imagination!

Btw, the look of the future in Discovery, hundred of years after Next Generation, look more like Terminator Salvation, and I hated that.

Instead of be a future with multiples strange buildings, screens , neon lights, lasers etc. is a "we are on the middle east fighting" look. I dislike that to no end.

Discovery should had ended when it dissapeared into the future in the end of the second season.

I haven’t watched any of it, but are you saying that Discovery was a dystopic future story? A Star Trek dystopia? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

Disco is a series set 10 years before classic Kirk trek. meaning Pike times.
First season they make klingons without hair, holographic technology, different uniforms and the main character as unknow until now adopted sister of Spock, and more. Fans were outrage because they said is canon but nothing looks like canon with the original series. and MANY things more that fans complain about stepping on canon.

Season 2 they fix EVERYTHING. give hair to the klingons, explain that every ship have different uniforms if they want. they took out holographic comunications because had glitch and go back to communication with video, and after fix that send Discovery to centuries on the future (centieies after Picard times) and said to EVERYBODY on the fleet to never talk about Discovery ("explaning" why nobody knew about it until now).
So season 2 ending they got rid of stepping up on the canon on every moment. and that is great. it should had ended there.
(the best of all: they bring, Pike, Spock, Num 1, the Enterprise and it was SO GOOD that it spin off on the new Strange new world series, that is awesome).

Now on season 3, several centuries on the future they could choose to do wherever they wanted, they choose a distopian future were the Federation don't exist and there are planets, bounty hunters etc, and all looks distopian, so, yes, they did that.

Above all: the explanation of why there is no federation is because almost all the ships explode? why? it was a season mystery! the reason?: romulans complot? massive weapon? internal sabotage?

Nop. it was an alien brat, with lots of powers that destroyed almost all the ships of the universe by screaming because he was sad or without his mom or something like that. I stopped watching.

Disco is the perfect Trek for LGBT people, there is lots of relationships, so that is good, is if you are LGBT you will feel really represented. so, that is nice, but the problems as you can see, for me, are the plots.

The show is too much centric in ONE character. and that main character, the unknown adopted sister of Spock, at least to me is not lovely. Cry on every episode, the balance of the universe depend of her on every episode or season, and there is nothing special about her really.

You may know now why the show have so many "haters" or people that don't like. the people that do like, like the relationships, bond, representation and development of the main character.

For me, Disco is the worst Trek series ever. (some may said that Picard series is the worst, for me that is dumb, loved the series, is not perfect but loved, and Picard is the most or second most loved Trek character Captain. some may said Voyager is the worst series, for me is not, it have the Doctor, 7 of 9, Borgs, time travel episodes and lots more. Disco don't even have great villains or antagonists, the best they got was Jason Isaacs, awesome actor that was really great on the series).

That is my small, not so small review.

Let me put my spin on it, with some spoilers:

Season 1 is a prequel to TOS, roughly at the time when Pike had just become Captain of the Enterprise. It is definitely dystopic, because there is a space war that is being lost to the Klingons, and then there is this whole "Mirror Universe" play that isn't at all pretty.

Season 2 was the "backdoor pilot" for Strange New Worlds. It is pretty bleak, because the season is focused on a rogue murder AI. To save teh galaxy, Discovery ends up in...

Season 3, 800(?) years future to when they started. The galaxy has gone bad, because dilithium doesn't work. I felt this season had some of the better SF concepts, except that politically, it makes no sense to want to be part of Star Fleet... they are a bunch of whiners! Oh, and more Mirror Universe.

Season 4 had a great concept, except that it was pretty dystopian because something was chewing through the galaxy, so the Star Fleet does what they do best, which is pretty much whine about it.

Season 5 has the galaxy in a slightly better place, except for the Breen, who can pretty much run all over Star Fleet and anybody else... which they would probably prefer to do, but I can't for the life of me remember why they didn't... I think they were too busy killing each other when they weren't enslaving Federation worlds?

and the star is the series cry and whine on every episode.

The best character of the series: Saru. is the Spock/Data/Doctor alien different character. that compared to the mentioned characters is not that great. Is from an race always on fear that with time overcome his fear. Played by the awesome Doug Jones.