THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS AS I WATCH:

• NOOO, I DON'T WANT THIS TO END!

• Previously: The various stuff happened.

• Oh, hey, Cayuga captains log.

• Nice of them to have a colony modeled after an Earth town. Saves on budget.

• "SIGNAL LOST." In space, a dropped call can mean only one thing: Invasion.

• Oh, we're doing the Independence Day thing?

• Telling a Starfleet captain to just do reconnaissance is basically telling them to go weapons free.

• Nice little tinge of one of the TOS scores at the end of the cold open. Someone more geekier than I can probably place it.

• If you ever feel like you are useless in life, just remember that there is a "skip intro" button during a "Space, the Final Frontier" monologue.

• Is the "Gorn Protocol" a hand-cannon with with a diamond?

• She flies the ship!

• I'd like to imagine there is a deleted scene where they glue every piece of junk they have onto the shuttle.

• If they're going to do a "is someone still alive in the wreckage" storyline, they probably should have flip-flopped Batel and Chapel's spots, given that we obviously know she's going to live.

• They keep giving Jenna Mitchell lines! FREE MITCHELL! Give that actreess a cast credit, cowards!

• Ah, a good old fashioned beam into the sky.

• Oh, look, a Gornzooky!

• And... vaporized.

• More Gornzookies!

• Oh my god, it's young Scotty. Hopefully this means Keenser is there. I always loved Keenser and his ability to sit on things he isn't supposed to.

• Doesn't seem like Keenser is there :(

• Of course Scotty would engineer a way to save people. He truly is a miracle worker.

• Smashing a piece of space debris is a very... brilliant idea.

• Pelia continuing to harass Una for her poor academics in engineering.

• Why do I get the feeling that whatever plan Spock has to put the rockets on the hull will also allow him to check for survivors?

• Wow, imagine that, Chapel is alive! Imagine that! Whoever would have thought! (Seriously they should have flip-flopped her and Batel if they were going to do this)

• USE THE MORSE, CHRISTINE!

• Oh, now she grabs the spacesuit. Although I guess she didn't need it yet.

• WARNING: GORNZOOKY

• COMMAND CODE INVALID'

• That looks like a bigger Gorn. An adult? Or at least like a teenager.

• So incredibly Alien.

• "GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM, YOU BITCH!"

• Oh shit, she's been impregnated with gornzookies. A very zombie movie trope.

• "There'll be time later." Before or after you get engaged to Dr. Korby?

• "We need to abort some Gornzookies."

• Yeah, Scotty would be a shitty student despite being brilliant.

• OH FUCK THE GORN KIDNAPPED THEM

• TO BE CONTINUED?!?!!?! Okay, who wants to drive to Hollywood and personally beat up some billionaires? I want this strike over NOW and I want a conclusion WITHIN A YEAR, A YEAR AND A HALF MAX!

One thing that I loved is that the fact that that is so WEIRD is actually one of the major parts of the plot. I know other places like Buffy have done similar, but I feel like poking fun at the tropes of musical theater kind of enhances it for some people like me (I don't HATE musicals, but I don't love them either.)

Thoughts/Observation as I watch:

• Where will this stand in the long history of Star Trek gimmick episodes? After all, this is the franchise that gave us "Trials and Tribble-ations", "Take Me Out To The Holosuite", "In a Mirror, Darkly", the OG "Lower Decks", and most recently... "Those Old Scientists". Holy shit, that was just two episodes ago and in between we got the darkest Star Trek thing in years!

• Uhura having to be the operator sounds like the most stressful thing to do that doesn't involve imminent danger.

• "Even if it's not fully necessary." That basically sums up every contrivance to get Kirk on board.

• KORBY ALERT

• Ah, spatial distortions, the cause and solution to everything.

• The facial acting as they enter musical-land is priceless.

• Acapella theme song!

• "So... that happened."

• "Quantum uncertainty field". That's some Hitchiker Guide type stuff.

• Ah, they brought back the Gilbert and Sullivan stuff.

• I like how they are hanging a lampshade on just how BIZARRE it is that people sing out their biggest secrets and deepest feelings in musicals.

• Good save, La'An.

• "Surprisingly beautiful baritone"

• It could have been worse for the crew. Imagine if Uhura had broadcast opera into it, then they'd ALWAYS be singing.

• Shaxs would suggest blowing it up by ejecting the warp core.

• Gratuitous zero-gee is gratuitous.

• Oh god, singing Klingons.

• Yeah, the Klingons would also like the "let's just blow it up" plan.

• Wait were those extras twins?

• Apparently the improbability field also affects the lighting of the bar.

• Isn't K'tinga the later type of Klingon ship? Ah, screw it, musical rules.

• "I don't love rules but I think you're about to break a big one."

• This totally is going into Temporal Investigations Kirk file.

• CAROL MARCUS REFERENCE

• Oh shit, David Marcus reference!

• "I'm the Ex" standing as if X in a math question is a good bit of workplay.

• Kind of surprised it took this long to give Celia Rose Gooding a full-on solo.

• Grammy-Award winning singer!

• A grand finale. How meta!

• Boy Band Klingons was not on my bingo card.

• Lol, playing the TOS theme as a curtain-closer

• "You sang about lying to me."

• "Sorry, Earworm."

• All-and-all, it was a good enough gimmick episode. But it was no "Take Me Out To The Holosuite." ("DEATH TO THE OPPOSITION!")

2x07: Wacky crossover with the comedy cartoon!

2x08: WAR IS HELL, NOBODY IS INNOCENT, MORALITY IS GREY, FORGIVENESS IS QUESTIONABLE, AND THE FRIENDLY DOCTOR MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE DELIBERATELY KILLED A GUY IN COLD BLOOD

2x09: Musical!

Find you a show that can do both.

I can only presume that you are currently doing "Those Old Scientists" but may die in the process.

Yep, they confirm it in Ready Room. Apparently Frakes' wife was dying from laughter watching the episode when that happened.

Let's face it: this isn't even in the top five strangest things to happen to a Starfleet vessel. Arguable if it's even in the top 10.

Still kind of hoping that one year they do a "Trials and Tribble-Ations" tribute episode where they go back to the Enterprise during TAS and splice in the LD guys in in the TAS style.

They could call it "Those Animated Scientists"

Thoughts and observations as I watched over at the "other place", special Saturday night/early Sunday morning edition:

• AHHHHH, WE'RE DOING THIS ON A SATURDAY!
• AHHHHH, WE'RE GETTING THE CROSSOVER!
• AHHHHH, A CROSSOVER BETWEEN A CARTOON COMEDY AND A LIVE ACTION DRAMA!
• AHHHHH, IN GENERAL!
• First off, that they have "Those Old Scientists" as the title is (chef's kiss).
• Previously: Nyota had a really bad day, La'An got a bad case of Kirk hotness, and Chapel/Spock had a bad case of hotness for each other
• OH GOD WE'RE STARTING ANIMATED
• "Numero Una"
• Tendi would like to remind you all that the Orions have a rich and varied history.
• "You guys look... very realistic."
• AHHHH, ANIMATED OPENING CREDITS!
• Hahaha, the thing that eats the Ceritos Nacelle!
• AHHHH, THE KOALA AT THE END OF THE CREDITS! WHY IS IT SMILING, WHAT DOES IT KNOW!?!?
• "But flipping it open is the best part"
• "Computer, end program."
• "Worf's honor." DANGIT!
• I wonder if Frakes showed Quaid how to properly do a Riker maneuver
• "You just... laughed."
• Ah, we're tying in with what Tendi said.
• Boimler is a toddler knocking over furniture.
• "We have jetpacks now"
• Pike's birthday is a holiday... CRAP!
• Boimler freaking out over the fact he made Spock laugh is such a Boimler thing.
• Hey, a reference to his sehlat!
• I like how they are using this episode to also move the other plotlines forward.
• HE MENTIONED PIKE'S REALLY GREAT HAIR
• Triticale, as opposed to Quadritriticale.
• I totally saw Mariner coming.
• Dystopian San Francisco!
• "Have you noticed their references are weirdly specific?"
• "Hot Spock agrees with me"
• "It's a poster that is pinned up"
• I feel like Tawny herself probably demanded a scene with Uhura
• Ah, there's the Boimler scream!
• "Holy Q!"
• "They had a Trelane thing going on."
• "He had to contour the hell out of the jawline"
• "Oh, I already know." Hahaha, they finally got out-future knowledged.
• Oh god, are they going to steal a piece of an NX?
• Oh, just a piece of it in the Enterprise.
• The "Mistress of the Winter Constellations" strikes again!
• Of course Ransom calls Una the hottest first officer in starfleet history.
• Hahaha, 2D animation Enterprise crew because they are drunk!
• All-time classic.

They also tied in to Tendi's story on LD (her constant reminding to people that Orions have a culture far beyond pirating), even though we didn't see her in Live Action.

I would not be opposed if episode five of every season of SNW involves Vulcan Hijinks.

Yes, I just have one question: was it a long road getting from there to here?