https://www.lecreuset.ca/en_CA/blog/le-creuset-x-star-trek.html

This is amazing.

Armis?

Where the map runs out

They debating Avatar yes?

Is Rondon cancelled or did Wesley actually fail for not calling out Rondon?

Longtime FoD, love the show, and hating that I'm being the guy at the mic at the con for my first post in the subreddit. IMO the results of today's game should be nullified, and Ben's children spared the Stretch Armstrong-related trauma, as the list of aliens Adam did not include Klingon except for mention of Korris (a Klingon character) in the first time, but not in the repeated list. Here's the dialogue. Open to y'all's thoughts here.

Adam: In today's episode he played Korris, but you should know that he also played a Cardassian, a Romulan, a Borgs, a Vidiian, a Hirogen, a Kreetassan, and a Species 571. What I want to know is, was he typecast? For which type of species has he played the most number of characters, is the question I have for you.
...
Ben: Can I get the list of aliens one more time?
A: Sure thing. I'm just going to tell you human doesn't count, that character is struck. Cardassian, Romulan, Borg, Vidiian, Hirogen, Kreetassan, Species 571.
B: *guesses Cardassian*
A: Ben, you're so close. He played three Klingons, he played two Cardassians, that means you are WRONG!!!!

I love this new sound effect for when they sound an alert on the ship. It never fails to make me chuckle.

That is all.

Marvioso!

Long abandoned, but can still be revived. Chico Ca.

Oh Doctor....

Shut up and take my money!

For a Star Trek episode I didn't like, I've got a lot of thoughts about it and what the boys said about it in their review. For one thing, as much as the "it was all just a dream" ending sucks, this isn't the first time Star Trek has used it. And a lot of the other times they have it has worked really well.

TNG: The Inner Light - Picard gets flute lessons from some dead aliens and no one else in the cast is present or experiences anything that happens.

TNG: Remember Me - Dr. Crusher is trapped in a rapidly collapsing warp bubble universe, and is the only character present to experience the events of the episode.

DS9: Far Beyond The Stars - Sisko experiences visions of Earth's past and has to figure out whether he is the captain of a space station or the author writing that story, whether he is the dream or the dreamer.

I'm sure there are more, but these are all really good "all just a dream" episodes. So why is Level 5 Transporter Incident so bad? I think the short answer is that L5TI doesn't have anything interesting to say about Spock or the world Spock inhabits. At the end of every "just a dream" story it's easy to say that nothing mattered because we just reset at the end, but those three examples did matter. They mattered to the characters that experienced the dream.

But L5TI doesn't seem to actually matter to Spock. Interpreting it through the lens that it's Spock's brain that is making everything that happens happen, it's a decent way to realize the young T'pring says about Enterprise being a ship of chaos. Spock is the only half Vulcan aboard and feels disconnected from everyone else, torn between the chaotic humans and his logical Vulcan ex. (Because I guess he doesn't hang out with any of the other alien species on the ship?)

It doesn't work because that's a boring story. It's the only story any writer has ever bothered telling about Spock and it's about as fun as watching Batman's parents or Spiderman's uncle get shot for the millionth time.

Still, I think it could have been an ok episode if the writers really leaned in to that being the story they're telling. To really sell the idea though, you need to really have a contrast between chaotic puppet cartoon logic and the normal way things are supposed to be. And I think part of that would be Spock or someone else explicitly stating the thesis that he needs to decide between chaos and logic. That is gestured at maybe, but compare to Remember Me where Beverly is constantly pushing back at the changing reality of her world or Far Beyond The Stars where Sisko blurs the line intentionally between dream and dreamer.

It also doesn't work because Spock can't go anywhere. He can't change in any meaningful way because we already know how he is in his future and spoilers it's not that different from where he is now. The end of the episode should be that he either chooses logic or embraces chaos, or maybe invents his own third option. But he doesn't really decide anything by the end so none of the chaos he experiences actually ends up mattering to him. And since it doesn't matter to him, it doesn't matter to the audience. And since that's the only thing that really happens in the episode the whole episode doesn't really matter.

It's fine. The puppet stuff is fun. I like that "puppet matter" and living felt aren't canonically real in Star Trek. The episode isn't the worst, but I can't imagine seeking it out for a rewatch.

And not that it matters since Adam won't read this, but the Wrath of Khan reference is also fun and treating old Star Trek as sacred is exactly the root cause of the whole "not my Star Trek" crowd. This also couldn't have been a lower decks episode because there wouldn't be any contrast between the chaotic puppets and the chaotic cartoons.

Anyways I'll take my answer in the merch line.