Anticipation

Sometimes, we can describe things as "highly anticipated," i.e., an event we eagerly anticipate and expect will be very good, exciting, or interesting. Sometimes, those highly anticipated events live up to their hype. Sometimes they don't for one reason or another. I anticipated seeing Firebird, as was apparent in yesterday's post. Then, yesterday morning while I was eating breakfast, an aura (flashing or twinkling lights or zigzag lines, which typically precede migraine headache) appeared in my vision. I usually see twinkling lights, and this is what I saw yesterday. While I don't always have an aura before headaches, I always have a headache beginning in the next 24 hours after I see an aura. Today's was a particularly dramatic aura that went on and on for about a minute. They usually only last a few seconds. By the time I got to work, I had a progressively worsening migraine, and it progressed throughout the day. I went home at lunch. I knew if my headache did not improve, I would not be going to see the highly anticipated Firebird, no matter how much I wanted to see it. Eventually, it will be released on one of the streaming services, and I can then watch it on the small screen. So, bummer number one, I did not get to see Firebird.

 

Another example is my post-op appointment with the doctor who did my endoscopy. It was supposed to happen this week to discuss our next step since I was not an ideal candidate for the Inspire device. I had still not heard from my doctor's office by Wednesday, so I called. They could not schedule an appointment to see the doctor until May 26, not exactly this week, is it? Anyway, I am anticipating what I will hear from her when I can have the post-procedure conversation.

 

Those two highly anticipated events proved to be disappointments, not because the movie was terrible or because I got bad news from the doctor. They were merely disappointments because they did not happen. Two other events were highly anticipated: the second season finale of Star Trek: Picard (PIC) and the series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds(SNW). Since I first saw Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike and later heard rumors that he would be given his own show that would feature him as the captain of the USS. Enterprise. If you know your Star Trek lore, you know that Pike was the captain of the Enterprise before James T. Kirk was captain of the famous starship. I was excited to see what they might do with the Enterprise in the years before Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, and I was also excited to see more of Anson Mount as Pike and Ethan Peck (the grandson of actor Gregory Peck), both of whom I have major celebrity crushes on. Both men are very sexy and handsome and play to both types of men that I find myself most attracted to.

 

I will not give anything away about the series premiere, but I do have a few things to say. Sometimes, highly anticipated events, especially movies and television shows, turn out to be highly disappointing, and sometimes, highly anticipated events exceed all your expectations. Of course, there are also times when it does neither or is what you expected or not as bad as it could have been. SNW exceeded all my expectations. To say it was phenomenally good would be an understatement. The only time I have enjoyed a Star Trek series more than the first episode of SNW was Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), which I have watched the complete series numerous times. 

 

Rod Roddenberry, son of Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek) and CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment, said of SNW, "Saying nothing bad about the other shows, but this is the one I'm most excited about. It's going to go back to the formatting of the original series. It's the kind of thing we need to get out there to give us hope" I hope SNW does get back to the hope and spirit of the original Star Trek. Discovery and Picard have often shown us a darker version of the future, and while I still enjoy them, I love DS9, and it was the darkest of all the first generation of spin-offs, I think at the heart of Star Trek is a message of hope.

 

This brings me to my last highly anticipated event, the season finale of Picard. The finale of season one left me unsatisfied and maybe even a little upset or disturbed. It had some great parts, but the very end just did not sit well with me. The second season has been more entertaining and, I guess, less heartbreaking. Season two's finale lived up to the expectations we've seen throughout the series, and I found the finale interesting and satisfying. A lot happens in the episode, and there could have easily been two additional episodes, as they crammed a lot into the 45-minute runtime. I'm interested to see where the third and final season takes us.

 

I guess two out of four ain't bad, especially when the two exceeded my expectations. The other two were just disappointments that will resolve themselves in the future. Right now, I’m just looking forward to where Star Trek: Strange New Words takes us. Hit it!