when i started watching star trek discovery, i thought at least michael a crush on prime philippa. then the narrative kept insisting their relationship with mother/daughter so i threw my hands in the air and said ig! and now when i watched that scene, i was all ??? this doesn’t read as platonic to me. it can’t be just me seeing things with my own two lesbian eyes (1/2)

(2/2) and speaking of michael and philippa, it was a bit annoying when they wrote michael saying “she was almost like a mother. almost like a sister” or similar idr exactly but it seems to me like the writers of discovery don’t know that women can love eachother without being family and still be platonic (or preferably not but we can’t have our cake and eat it)

Lol that you had to split this when the previous anon could ask something so much longer.

Lol, I REFUSED to buy into the momzoning. I loved Prime!Philippa in a non-motherly way and everyone else should have too! Like, when you think about it, kinda weird that women in authority positions are immediately framed as moms? Even freaking Janeway! She’s absolutely a maverick daredevil captain in the vein of Kirk but people still act like her role’s to be motherly to the crew? While men in the same position of the same age with the same temperament defffinitely aren’t.

But anyway, like, yeah, fine, if they tell me that the SAME UNIVERSE Michael/Philippa are mother/daughter, okay, okay, but I’m still gonna ship the cross-universe versions! Who are total strangers who clearly do not treat each other like mother and daughter at all?

AND THAT SCENE…like…those are romantic as any lines I’ve ever seen.


And that line in the toast, almost like a mother, almost like a sister, lol, the days are over where two unrelated women can have super strong bonds and not be familyzoned, now that the public knows f/f romance can exist. They have to include it to stop people going wait–are they? But tbh, I saw the writers as shrugging at it all now that they can, adding that friend line, because same as with the goodbye above, however people see it, that’s the last of them. It’s not something they have to worry about anymore.

First off, I admire your patience with your answers to all the asks, thank you for your thoughtful replies.I have seen lots of frustration and disappointment with the Maya/Carina storyline/airtime in s4 so far on Station 19 and I find it fascinating and strange at how quickly people are forgetting the covid pandemic isn’t just a storyline, it’s real life for everyone right now, including the cast and production team. (That’s a general observation – not one I’ve ever sensed you to have through your responses BTW). That we have had any onscreen, close physical contact nevermind actual physical intimacy that requires the actors to kiss etc is a huge luxury. I don’t know what the exact rules are for the acting industry in the USA at the moment, but in the UK the rules are still strict for actors and were even stricter earlier in the year (at around the time the episodes just broadcast would have been filmed). And just this week Tom Cruise has been widely (and positively) reported about for making sure that the severity of the risks are to the industry and how much effort is being put in by those that can have shows/films in production right now to keep the industry alive for when it hopefully gets a little bit easier.And yes, it’s frustrating to see our favourite story lines within ensemble shows get a ‘lesser’ spotlight than others, especially when the others are the heteronormative, ‘mainstream’ ones.We have no idea what plan A was for s4 – it’s a casualty of covid, twice over. First because the broader narrative was adjusted to accommodate it, almost like the introduction of an additional series member to the ensemble. And second because they have to come up with stories that can be told through scenes filmed in ways that the cast, crew, studio etc are prepared to do because they feel they can do them safely.COVID kills, still by the thousand, every hour and day now, 9+ months after the first lockdowns and shelter in place orders etc. So much of life is unrecognisable for so many because of it, because they have lost people they care about, jobs, homes… And things taken for granted 10 months ago are almost forgotten about, condemned to ancient history because they just can’t happen safely.Yet we have new episodes on TV, made by people who were prepared to hug and kiss and put themselves as elevated risk of catching a seriously scary disease because it was something they could do to help us all, collectively feel like life still goes on.(we could have ended s3 at episode 15 and still be waiting for s4 to start filming….yet we have French Toast that’s better than sex!) Personally, I’m just so glad that we have had Maya and Carina on screen again in 2020 and that the storyline has survived COVID in the real world. Yes, it would be great if it was more and different and all the things as fans we always want. And hopefully it will be nearer that by the end of s4’s whole arc. And if it isn’t? I think I’ll cross that bridge when it comes. Hopefully at a point in 2021 when COVID-19 is no longer a main cast member of our lives… On screen and and in real life.

Thanks, anon! Press publish.

I’m kidding, but can you imagine. :p Um, hmm, okay, well, I do get your point, and have, as I’m sure you noticed, brought it up myself, that we don’t know what might have been without covid or how it changed things, and I didn’t even think about something like, for example, if Carina has a scene with Andrew, she may not be able to easily have one with Maya, just in terms of sharing bubbles and whatnot, as happened this week.

But as you mentioned yourself: “it’s frustrating to see our favourite story lines within ensemble shows get a ‘lesser’ spotlight than others, especially when the others are the heteronormative, ‘mainstream’ ones.” THAT’s what’s bothering people, where actors are sharing more screentime, getting more intimate, when they’re part of m/f couples. Stefania and Danielle have obviously done whatever was necessary to share scenes, so why are they still so short and few? This seems more a writing choice. Having Maya talk to Andy about her anger at Carina’s items in her apartment instead of with or in addition to Carina, that’s a writing choice where not much else would even need to have changed, involving the rest of the plot or actors.

And while I’m grateful for the episodes and bit of screentime, if they come with a reminder of those inequalities, that stings. I do try to approach things in good faith and have other things to occupy me so haven’t let it bother me much but the differences are noticeable and I get why people aren’t happy with it. 

to that grey’s anon talking about the timeline: i very very highly doubt the shows communicate enough to be on the same timeline. 8 days for grey’s could be 8 weeks on s19 they follow a general timeline but not the exact same one.

Hmm, right, but I’m guessing since they share characters and similar events, one would assume they’re roughly similar. Still, you’re probably right, aside from those events they’re probably fine handwaving most things. People don’t watch these shows for accuracy. 😛

And another anon (the original anon who asked):

I meant that since Meredith fell into a coma on Grey’s Anatomy, it’s only been a few days from then to the winter finale. I thought they were moving week to week in their timeline, like how the show comes on week to week. But I may be wrong regarding Station 19? The timeline of it all is confusing to me because I usually only watch Grey’s Anatomy.

Well, right, I think in terms of that, it could be pretty quick, but it’s not as if Carina and Maya have actually done much since Meredith fell into a coma? The big step was to move in together and that was at around that time, with the month before, they did highlight that in the same Station 19 ep before making the decision.

And another anon:

When does Station 19 usually air? 

In terms of which timeslot, Thursdays at 8pm Eastern, before Grey’s…but when in the season, I’m not sure. I know covid’s messed with the schedule before the hiatus, not theirs but Grey’s, so to continue the same storylines they had to start together but usually Station 19 starts later in fall or even spring. Feel like Wikipedia probably has the answers on this one.

Before Maya’s mom walked in, Maya was a pretty good girlfriend to Carina. Why is it the assumption that she is 100% a bad girlfriend now?

Well, she was pretty rude when Carina first visited her, but all right, fair enough, that was the one time, and at that point they weren’t girlfriends yet (as far as Maya thought) but okay. But I don’t see how Maya’s mom entering and setting that whole chain off changes what DOES happen, that is entirely on Maya? 

But it’s not that the assumption is about her alone, or that she’s all bad, it’s just that the huge thing that did happen, the fighting, the cheating, that hasn’t really been resolved, so it’s still lingering against her and in this new season, all we’ve seen is her inviting Andy to stay with them without talking to Carina and then being unfairly short about Carina’s stuff. It’s more about the writers continuing to show Maya’s issues without any balance, Carina’s response and possibly even her own issues. Nobody’s perfect all the time, but we don’t get to see any of that, just each time Maya has an issue, it’s the show itself highlighting that.