Robert A. Black, Mathematical Storyteller

WARNING! WARNING! Danger, Will Robinson! I'm going to talk about Star Trek: Discovery , so if you're not up to speed on the latest episodes and don't want to be spoiled, turn back now! In fact, at the moment I'm just typing enough stuff so that the link on my Facebook page won't give anything away. Blah blah biddy blah, I'm so stuffy hand me a scone. And never eat pears. By the way, does anyone else think that spin-around thing the Discovery saucer section does is really silly? Okay, that should do it. Discovery is back from its midseason hiatus now. Actually, I'm a week behind, having just seen the January 7 episode last night. And what a surprise it was. Not all the stuff with the Mirror Universe, as I'd already read about that. I'm referring to the scene where Doctor Culber gets killed out of nowhere. Doctor Hugh Culber, one half of Trek 's first canon gay couple, partner of Lieutenant Paul Stamets. I found myself having ...

I may be in the midst of chaos these days, but I couldn't let the introduction of a new star for Doctor Who go unmentioned, especially since they've cast a woman, Jodie Whittaker, in the role for the first time. The choice was both a surprise and not a surprise. Jodie Whittaker worked with incoming showrunner Chris Chibnall on Broadchurch , and for months people had been suggesting Chibnall would choose an actress from Broadchurch - just not this particular actress. I hadn't heard her name come up until right before the decision was announced. But I still think it's a good choice. Her Broadchurch character was a victim for the first two seasons, but then rebounded in the final season and started to take back her life. It made for a good range of acting challenges. Predictably, the internet exploded after the choice was announced. To be honest, the mix of people who were excited about the choice and people who were angry about it was more-or-less what I...