What television shows are you watching?

[Terxpahseyton]

I would expect them to be a bit of a step back. Apparently, Discovery takes place ten years before the events of Captain Kirk and ST:TOS, so it makes a bit of sense that the Klingons aren't quite as evolved as they were in ST:TNG

Haha, I am not following you down that road. Given the difference of TOS and TNG, the Klingons have, if anything, devolved, over time. But then of course those were just them human genes they infected their population with, as shown in ENT.....
Regardless, while a primitive culture will hardly help to make the villain interesting, they don't seem to have tried much, so far.
But the series has barely started and I have not even watched all of that, so I probably have ventured into judgement and forecasting as far as I should and beyond.

And if I remember my Trek history, the time frame that Discovery takes place in includes the Romulan war. I can't wait to see what they do with that.

The Romulan War happened right after Enterprise.
Discovery takes place a century later. And the Federation had no contact to Romulans since that war until the respective TOS episode.

 

[tjs282]

...the airlocks to the ships in the dockyard are in the floor, rather than the wall, because Ceres generates artificial gravity by spinning. The "floor" on a spinning asteroid like Ceres is outward, towards the outside, not downwards towards the center, as it is on a planetary body large enough to generate real gravity.

While everything else you posted makes good sci-fi sense, this unfortunately doesn't, at least not if we're comparing to the real-life Ceres; which is indeed a planetoid, with a diameter of ~950 km, surface area ≈ 2.8 km² (roughly the size of India), and sufficient mass for its own gravity to make it near-spherical (escape velocity ~0.5 km/s, or ~1800 km/h). Spinning up such a mass sufficiently to reverse the natural 'up' and 'down' would likely not even be possible given the tech-level shown -- never mind practical.

Ceres Station therefore is not -- cannot be -- on (or rather, just under) the surface of Ceres itself. Given the necessity of spinning the station for artificial gravity, its vulnerability to resource-shortages (Ceres contains plenty of water-ice, btw), and its apparently relatively small population (1 million? Less?), it's clearly a small artificial (orbital) habitat -- possibly constructed from a hollowed-out (solid rocky) asteroid much smaller than Ceres, possibly in orbit around Ceres, possibly just named after it (I can't remember from the book, whether any of this is specified). However, in all the (hollowed-out-and-)spun-for-gravity habitats I've ever read about (theoretical concepts and/or sci-fi based thereon), the docks (and hence airlocks) are never placed along the 'floor' surfaces outermost from the rotational axis; they're always placed on the axis itself (i.e. at one or both 'poles'), to simplify docking procedures, and to aid with shifting cargo, in the low(er)-g environment. On space-habitats with dock-complexes capable of accomodating large and/or multiple ships simultaneously, the docks are also usually counter-rotated to make them stationary relative to the habitat's rotation (e.g. the Edenist habitats in Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy -- which is admittedly more space opera than hard sci-fi, but I'm sure you get the point -- and on topic [yay!], I'd watch the hell out of any decent serialisation of those books).

But this is just another minor quibble. As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to sci-fi, the harder the better -- and as I said before, I'm glad that they're trying, even if they don't get everything 'right'...

 

[Disgustipated]

I will most likely wait until I can binge all the episodes (of season 1) of Discovery at once before I buy. Hopefully the CBS all access allows that, I don't know how that works. I'd rather just get it for one month, then cancel.

I'm not entirely happy with the war crimes committed by the main character. I already heard about the IED's in enemy corpses. Sigh. The writers probably thought this was an ingenious plan in difficult circumstances not realizing how terrorist-y this is. I don't think the writers were going for that terrorist vibe, I think it was just bad writing. Still I do want to check this show out eventually.

 

[EgonSpengler]

While everything else you posted makes good sci-fi sense, this unfortunately doesn't, at least not if we're comparing to the real-life Ceres; which is indeed a planetoid, with a diameter of ~950 km, surface area ≈ 2.8 km² (roughly the size of India), and sufficient mass for its own gravity to make it near-spherical (escape velocity ~0.5 km/s, or ~1800 km/h). Spinning up such a mass sufficiently to reverse the natural 'up' and 'down' would likely not even be possible given the tech-level shown -- never mind practical.

Ceres Station therefore is not -- cannot be -- on (or rather, just under) the surface of Ceres itself. Given the necessity of spinning the station for artificial gravity, its vulnerability to resource-shortages (Ceres contains plenty of water-ice, btw), and its apparently relatively small population (1 million? Less?), it's clearly a small artificial (orbital) habitat -- possibly constructed from a hollowed-out (solid rocky) asteroid much smaller than Ceres, possibly in orbit around Ceres, possibly just named after it (I can't remember from the book, whether any of this is specified). However, in all the (hollowed-out-and-)spun-for-gravity habitats I've ever read about (theoretical concepts and/or sci-fi based thereon), the docks (and hence airlocks) are never placed along the 'floor' surfaces outermost from the rotational axis; they're always placed on the axis itself (i.e. at one or both 'poles'), to simplify docking procedures, and to aid with shifting cargo, in the low(er)-g environment. On space-habitats with dock-complexes capable of accomodating large and/or multiple ships simultaneously, the docks are also usually counter-rotated to make them stationary relative to the habitat's rotation (e.g. the Edenist habitats in Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy -- which is admittedly more space opera than hard sci-fi, but I'm sure you get the point -- and on topic [yay!], I'd watch the hell out of any decent serialisation of those books).

But this is just another minor quibble. As far as I'm concerned, when it comes to sci-fi, the harder the better -- and as I said before, I'm glad that they're trying, even if they don't get everything 'right'...

I agree, putting the docks on the axis makes more sense. I remember the book talked about the 'gravity' getting lighter as you went spinward-to-coreward; I can't remember if that's in the show. There's a screenshot of Eros Station from the show in the Expanse Wiki, and that's clearly a separate structure built alongside the asteroid. I think Eros is a lot smaller than Ceres, though. I found a screengrab of the Ceres metro map that seems to suggest the colony's layout.

Spoiler :

 

[hobbsyoyo]

I just started season 5 of The Americans on Amazon. At this point, I think this show has whatever audience it's going to get. If you haven't been watching this show, you don't want to start with season 5; and if you have been watching, you don't need me to tell you to. Anyway, I really liked the first episode. I wished they'd spent more time with Elizabeth and Paige. The cut away from that scene was jarring. otoh, I liked the excessively-long digging scene; they pushed it past the "wtf?" stage and on into entertainingly strange.

This season is a bit slow to be honest. I still enjoy it but they need to pick up the pace a bit. (I'm 3 or 4 episodes in).

Just started watching The Expanse on Netflix the other day.

Not bad, nice to see some proper(ish) sci-fi that wasn't already a major franchise, or reboot thereof. I do like that they're trying to follow at least some hard sci-fi conventions, like the Belters being badly affected by Earth's gravity, and characters suddenly going into freefall when the engines cut out; it's just a pity the showrunners didn't have the guts to carry that through to 2001-level 'no sound in vacuum' as well, rather than settling for the StarWars-style pew-pew. (I did also roll my eyes a bit at the Trek-style "staggering around on the bridge of a multi-megatonne capital ship, when it takes a torpedo-hit".)

Only thing is, I realised about 10 minutes into the first ep that I'd (coincidentally) just read the book that it's based on (Leviathan Wakes) during this year's summer holiday: I'd found it on the hotel bookshelf and devoured it while sitting on the beach (also read Fred Pohl's Gateway -- at last -- and its sequel, Beyond the Blue Event Horizon). So for me the series is maybe not a suspenseful as it should have been (plus, my wife keeps asking me what's going to happen next!). OTOH, some of the dialogue is coming through so inaudible/distorted that knowing what the characters are supposed to be talking about is probably an advantage...

Expanse does a decently good job at hard sci fi. There was one scene where they are hiding from a patrol while in 'orbit' around a moon and they just...go backwards. Yeah that's not how that works hahaha
For the most part they get massive props for trying though and its an entertaining series.

Also, if you are in a ship that got hit by a torpedo you would stagger around. I don't know why you think they wouldn't. Certainly when our multiegatonne capital ships get hit with torpedos in real life people get tossed about.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

How are all you people watching Discovery? I really want to watch it but I'm not going to subscribe to the service just for it.

 

[Arakhor]

At least some (if not most) of us aren't North American.

 

[EgonSpengler]

This season is a bit slow to be honest. I still enjoy it but they need to pick up the pace a bit. (I'm 3 or 4 episodes in).

The pacing isn't bothering me, although I think I'm an episode ahead of you. There's a nice reveal in ep 4 or 5.

How are all you people watching Discovery? I really want to watch it but I'm not going to subscribe to the service just for it.

At least some (if not most) of us aren't North American.

Yeah, I don't pay for the CBS streaming service, either. Or any other, for that matter. HBO and Disney can go jump into a lake, as far as I'm concerned. I'm hoping this fragmenting of the industry bites all these companies in the butt sooner rather than later, and they rethink their strategies. In the meantime, I'm unable to watch a lot of stuff that I think I'd enjoy, but there's such a volume of content available that I have no shortage of things to watch. Would Westworld or Discovery bump Supergirl off my viewing queue? Yeah probably, but I'm fine watching Supergirl. And my guess is that CBS and HBO are fine with me not watching their stuff, so I'm probably just s.o.l.

 

[tjs282]

Expanse does a decently good job at hard sci fi. There was one scene where they are hiding from a patrol while in 'orbit' around a moon and they just...go backwards. Yeah that's not how that works hahaha.

I especially enjoyed the bit where Holden and his crew decided to 'escape' from the Canterbury's expanding debris field by driving straight through it at high burn instead of, you know, just sheltering behind the bloody great rock that was already right next to their shuttle

Also, if you are in a ship that got hit by a torpedo you would stagger around. I don't know why you think they wouldn't. Certainly when our multiegatonne capital ships get hit with torpedos in real life people get tossed about.

It's not that the staggering is unexpected, but it happens because the ship is actually being jolted 'sideways' by the torpedo-impact/detonation, relative to its main thrust, no? That being so, then surely everyone would stagger in the same direction relative to the impact-point, rather than falling about in every direction á la Star Trek...? Also, the Donnager looked like it was a lot bigger/ massed a lot more than an oceanic battleship, so the jolt would have to be correspondingly a lot larger to shift it noticeably (although the torps were nuke-tipped, and the Don certainly seemed to contain less metal-per-unit-volume than a dreadnought-type battleship).

I found a screengrab of the Ceres metro map that seems to suggest the colony's layout.

Thanks for that -- not sure how it relates to the 'reality' of the station layout, though (Circular top view? Spherical cross-section? End-on spiral map of a cylinder?). I wouldn't trust e.g. the London Underground map to guide anyone round the topside physical city, either...

 

[Kyriakos]

I especially enjoyed the bit where Holden and his crew decided to 'escape' from the Canterbury's expanding debris field by driving straight through it at high burn instead of, you know, just sheltering behind the bloody great rock that was already right next to their shuttle It's not that the staggering is unexpected, but it happens because the ship is actually being jolted 'sideways' by the torpedo-impact/detonation, relative to its main thrust, no? That being so, then surely everyone would stagger in the same direction relative to the impact-point, rather than falling about in every direction á la Star Trek...? Also, the Donnager looked like it was a lot bigger/ massed a lot more than an oceanic battleship, so the jolt would have to be correspondingly a lot larger to shift it noticeably (although the torps were nuke-tipped, and the Don certainly seemed to contain less metal-per-unit-volume than a dreadnought-type battleship).
Thanks for that -- not sure how it relates to the 'reality' of the station layout, though (Circular top view? Spherical cross-section? End-on spiral map of a cylinder?). I wouldn't trust e.g. the London Underground map to guide anyone round the topside physical city, either...

I liked all of season1, but i was rather annoyed when they

Spoiler :

had the detective fuse with the infested girl and become apparently some alien or something

. So i gave up on season 2 after (iirc) 2 episodes. May pick it up again.

 

[Synobun]

I started watching a new show called MINDHUNTER last night. I would highly recommend it. It's extremely engrossing and sucks you right in. I watched five episodes (each episode is an hour) before finally turning away. Great pacing, great characters, great premise, great cinematography. No complaints. At least 9/10.

 

[EgonSpengler]

I started watching a new show called MINDHUNTER last night. I would highly recommend it. It's extremely engrossing and sucks you right in. I watched five episodes (each episode is an hour) before finally turning away. Great pacing, great characters, great premise, great cinematography. No complaints. At least 9/10.

Yeah, I have that in my queue, but I haven't started it yet. Too much to watch. We're well past the point where a person with a broad interest in television can check out everything that looks intriguing. I suffered a case of serial-killer burnout several years ago (Criminal Minds is in season 13 now; I stopped watching after 7 or 8), so I'm a little wary. I saw a trailer for an adaptation of The Alienist, a book I loved, and I'm not sure what to think.

 

[Synobun]

Yeah, I have that in my queue, but I haven't started it yet. Too much to watch. We're well past the point where a person with a broad interest in television can check out everything that looks intriguing. I suffered a case of serial-killer burnout several years ago (Criminal Minds is in season 13 now; I stopped watching after 7 or 8), so I'm a little wary. I saw a trailer for an adaptation of The Alienist, a book I loved, and I'm not sure what to think.

MINDHUNTER is much slower and more philosophical than the pop-culture shows like True Detective and Criminal Minds, IMO. It concentrates on the psychology behind psychopathy and based on my own understanding/research/whatever it looks like the writers did their homework. The director also frames the information in a way that you can follow along so you're not just sitting there looking quizzically at the screen until the reveal.

There's only 10 episodes. The pilot is an hour long but the other episodes thus far have been in the neighbourhood of 42 minutes each. It's not a huge commitment, and depending on how engrossed you are you'd burn through it in a day or two.

 

[Kyriakos]

MINDHUNTER is much slower and more philosophical than the pop-culture shows like True Detective and Criminal Minds, IMO. It concentrates on the psychology behind psychopathy and based on my own understanding/research/whatever it looks like the writers did their homework. The director also frames the information in a way that you can follow along so you're not just sitting there looking quizzically at the screen until the reveal.

There's only 10 episodes. The pilot is an hour long but the other episodes thus far have been in the neighbourhood of 42 minutes each. It's not a huge commitment, and depending on how engrossed you are you'd burn through it in a day or two.

Hm, i'll try Mindhunter, although its trailer seems to be repeating 5 times the phrase that they can't know how to find/talk to those psychopaths, which may be a bit underwhelming or even a ploy. But i will take your word on it and try (and attack you if i end up not liking it - )

 

[Synobun]

Hm, i'll try Mindhunter, although its trailer seems to be repeating 5 times the phrase that they can't know how to find/talk to those psychopaths, which may be a bit underwhelming or even a ploy. But i will take your word on it and try (and attack you if i end up not liking it - )

I make a point of avoiding trailers if possible for that very reason. They either tell you nothing or tell you everything.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

How are all you people watching Discovery? I really want to watch it but I'm not going to subscribe to the service just for it.

 

[Kyriakos]

I make a point of avoiding trailers if possible for that very reason. They either tell you nothing or tell you everything.

Damn it, Vincour First two eps of Mindhunter were (if i am being kind) thoroughly mediocre. :/

 

[Synobun]

Damn it, Vincour First two eps of Mindhunter were (if i am being kind) thoroughly mediocre. :/

You're thoroughly mediocre.

I thought it was great. One of the best shows I've seen in several months.

 

[Kyriakos]

You're thoroughly mediocre.

I thought it was great. One of the best shows I've seen in several months.

Well, you suck then

 

[Vahnstad]

Two and a Half Men
The Big Bang Theory
Friends

All other shows are non-fiction, sporadically or Belgian. I don't watch that often tv.