Binary System Podcast Archive

This episode originally broadcast on July 19, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/07/binary-system-podcast-465-station-eleven-star-trek-lower-decks-and-picard/

First up this week we start with a spoileriffic recap of the Station Eleven bottle episode “The Severn City Airport,” where we find out how the Prophet became so intensely creepy, tho we’re still not sure how he ended up with The Book.

Then we jump to an equally spoileriffic recap of the second-to-last episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, where we get a little more info about the mystery ship that’s abducting people, and the reason why Mariner’s had a frikking death wish for the last few episodes. (We think there may be a pretty deep pull there, but of course we haven’t looked it up. Feel free to yell at us in the comments!)

Finally, Elizabeth has a brief (and slightly spoileriffic, natch) look at the final episode of Picard. TL:DR, it’s fine? Very nostalgic and fun, but the fact that it took her literally months to watch the whole season is not a good sign.

Plus some random tangents into stupid influencers, post-apocalyptic supermarket looting, and bad wigs.

This week’s outro is a clip from Liberation by Pamela Yuen.

Correction: friends of the podcast Hannah and Nathan have both pointed out Miranda gave Arthur a second copy of the book and that's how Tyler got one. Somehow we both completely forgot that happened.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan’s castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

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This episode originally broadcast on July 3, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/07/binary-system-podcast-464-station-eleven-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

Our journey through a post-pandemic world continues this week as we discuss the fourth episode of Station Eleven. The lines are being drawn between the people still mourning the world that existed before the pandemic, and the people born after the pandemic who will never understand how bad it was and wish people would just get over it. This episode has some fun moments, like Lori Petty's character and the surprisingly workable Shakespearean costumes made with golf gloves. But there's also a shocking development that was set up almost from the start of the episode; it's just not the one you think it's going to be.

In another shocking development, Kathryn recaps two episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Elizabeth is shocked to realize that she'd forgotten an entire storyline that can be summed up as "Rutherford's clone cave-baby."

This week's outro is a clip from Before The Countdown by Armament.

Correction: We didn't realize until halfway through the recap that we were mispronouncing "Kirsten" as "Kristen". Sorry about that.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on June 26, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/06/binary-system-podcast-463-station-eleven-the-phoenician-scheme-and-28-weeks-later/

We've clearly been kidnapped by aliens and replaced with clones who are much better at watching movies, because this week we caught up on a show that's only four years old, and watched a movie that's still in the theater. (Then of course we watched a movie 18 years after it came out, so maybe this is the real Binary System Crew after all. OR IS IT? No, it totally is.)

First up we go over an absolutely grim episode of Station Eleven, going back in time to see how Miranda's relationship went up in flames (literally), then jumping forward to see how the whole world went up in flames. (Figuratively. Mostly.)

After that we do a quick look at Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme, which we absolutely love but it's hard to describe other than saying "It's very Wes Andersony." (The man loves him some horizontal tracking shots oh yes he does.)

Finally we rolled our eyes a little at 2007's 28 Weeks Later: it's got some cool explosions, some intense action, and young Jeremy Renner is very cute, but it lost the charm of the original, unfortunately. (They needed to STICK TO THE RULES. - Kathryn) (Don't LOGIC THE PLOT, KATHRYN. - Elizabeth)

This week's outro is a clip from Back In Line by Roy Colwin.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram!

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This episode originally broadcast on June 19, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/06/binary-system-podcast-462-wtnv-270-deeper-than-purpose-older-than-thought-love-death-robots-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

The Welcome To Night Vale writers decided to prepare for the July hiatus by wrapping up two storylines this episode. And we can thank good-natured, heart-of-the-podcast Steve Carlsburg for both of them. The mysterious Labyrinth corporation will no longer be sending Night Vale citizens to perform illicit deeds in the desert, and the supply chain problem won't be causing any more problems, ie: Cecil having to use a laptop that's more than eight days old. Like a savage.

In other news, Kathryn watched another episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks (it was silly, but it's a Ferengi episode, it was always going to be silly). And we both watched the last two remaining episodes of the latest season of Love, Death, and Robots. Short summary: "How Zeke Got Religion" has a solid story with fantastic images and a terrifying antagonist. And we kiiinda think we liked "The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur" better.

The Welcome To Night Vale writers decided to prepare for the July hiatus by wrapping up two storylines this episode. And we can thank good-natured, heart-of-the-podcast Steve Carlsburg for both of them. The mysterious Labyrinth corporation will no longer be sending Night Vale citizens to perform illicit deeds in the desert, and the supply chain problem won't be causing any more problems, ie: Cecil having to use a laptop that's more than eight days old. Like a savage.

In other news, Kathryn watched another episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks (it was silly, but it's a Ferengi episode, it was always going to be silly). And we both watched the last two remaining episodes of the latest season of Love, Death, and Robots. Short summary: "How Zeke Got Religion" has a solid story with fantastic images and a terrifying antagonist. And we kiiinda think we liked "The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur" better.

This episode originally broadcast on June 12, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/06/binary-system-podcast-460-wtnv-269-a-story-about-me-love-death-robots-station-eleven-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

"My GOD the way this show delivers information…"

We've got a lot to cover this week, starting with what's quickly becoming our favorite kind of Night Vale episode: a Steve Carlsberg story! (Seriously, ten years ago we loved to hate him as much as Cecil did, now we think he's practically the heart of Night Vale, how did that happen?)

After that we do a quick recap of the Love Death + Robots episode "Smart Appliances, Stupid Owners." (Short version: it's fine. It's very short, and very silly. Also "Creature Comforts" did it better. But we loved the voices.)

Then we jump into episode 2 of Station Eleven, which doesn't end up being a very long recap because there's mostly just ONE SCENE we want to talk about. If you watched it, you know which one we mean. The bit with the text messages. Yiiikes.

Finally we wrap up with two episodes of Star Trek Lower Decks: the one where the Betazoids are making everybody go crazy OR ARE THEY, and the one where Tendi goes to her sister's pirate wedding. (Tendi being a reluctant badass will never stop being the absolute best.)

This week's outro is a clip from Sunset Beach by Pro Tunes.

Here's Kathryn's fan art of Laura (the waitress with branches growing out of her).

You can find out more about the Dark Planet Of Awesome Size on the Night Vale Wiki.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on June 5, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/06/binary-system-podcast-460-station-eleven-series-premiere-with-special-guest-hannah/

The Binary System Podcast team has been getting a little better at TV lately, but we're still three years late in watching Station Eleven (based on the best-selling book that Kathryn reviewed way back in 2014). Fortunately, younger sister Hannah was visiting last weekend and we needed a topic to discuss so she could do a guest appearance on the podcast, which provided us the perfect excuse to start watching it already.

We're only one episode in so far (well, two of us are. Hannah's already watched the whole series because she's way better at TV), and this is shaping up to be a perfect adaptation. Multiple characters (played by fantastic actors) across multiple timelines, the stories of how a civilization-ending pandemic started are intercut with hauntingly beautiful images of an apocalypse that's had a couple of decades to settle in. The episode has moments of quiet humor, and growing panic, and a tension that doesn't let up the entire time.

We took a few moments to talk about another Hannah-recommendation: Jentry Chau Versus The Underworld. And we had to to digress to talk about other apocalypse-pandemic properties (The Stand, 28 Days Later), and to finalize our own apocalypse plan. If you're curious about what we're doing when it all kicks off, the party's at our grandmother's library.

This week's outro is a clip from Space Jump by Noisy Oyster.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on May 29, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/05/binary-system-podcast-459-love-death-and-robots-and-star-trek-lower-decks/

This week we watched three whole episodes of the new season of Love, Death + Robots (yes we want pats on the head for that thank you) and while there's a lot to discuss regarding Robert Valley's amazing animation, a possible origin story for "Three Robots", and voice actors we've gotten to interview, what we really want to talk about is how messed up the imdb episode ratings are this season. (A 5.7 for "400 Boys"? A 4.1 for "Can't Stop"? Oh come on that's way too low. We know everybody's taste is different but that's gotta be trolls hate-reviewing the episodes, right?)

After that Kathryn recaps episodes 2 and 3 of Star Trek: Lower Decks, so we can talk about how adorable Tendi and Rutherford are, how Mariner is determined to earn a demotion, and how great the creators are at coming up with some surprisingly terrifying monsters. ("Moopsy!")

There's also the usual tangents into Bigger Than Worlds engineering, comic books based on animated characters, and the final volume of Adam Warren's Empowered series.

This week's outro is a clip from Afterlife by Beat Mekanik.

Correction: the cat's name in "The Other Large Thing" is "Dingleberry Jones." Come on, we were close.

Correction: Kathryn is correct, Golgotha is pronounced GOWL guh thuh. Elizabeth's pronunciation (gol GOTH uh) is because she read it in a book and made assumptions.

Correction: Elizabeth was both right and wrong: Bubblegum Crisis and Bubblegum Crash were the names of the anime series, Adam Warren's graphic novel was Bubblegum Crisis: Grand Mal.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on May 22, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/05/binary-system-podcast-458-wtnv-268-home-office-and-love-death-and-robots/

In this week's recap, Steve Carlsberg is fitting into his job at Labyrinth as well as can be expected. By which we mean he's working himself to death, losing connection with his family, and his attempts at corporate team-building are not appreciated. It's a grim state of affairs, and don't even get us started on the food situation in Night Vale. (Short summary: there isn't any.)

And speaking of grim, we watched four episodes of the latest season of Love, Death, and Robots. We don't mean grim as in bad; all four episodes are shining examples of their craft and downright dazzling (even "Close Encounters of the Mini Kind", which is hilarious and really mean-spirited.) But the ending to one of them was...something. And it led to a brief discussion about one of the hazards of pet ownership. Probably nothing to worry about, but go ahead and make sure you have enough pet food, and someone to do regular welfare checks, and everything should be fine. Probably.

This week's outro is a clip from TeknoAXE's Robot Chomp, and I swear I didn't realize how appropriate that title is for one of the Love, Death, and Robot episodes until after I'd already downloaded it.

The "Spider Rose" episode is based on a short story by Bruce Sterling, who created the Mechanist/Shaper universe that this and "Swarm" is set in.

Turns out that yes, the poet in the episode "For He Can Creep" is based on a real Victorian poet who died in debtor's prison. Damn, we can't get away from grim topics this week, can we?

Found it! The story Kathryn was thinking of with the windows was Higglety Pigglety Pop or There Must Be More To Life. It is indeed by Maurice Sendak, and it's still just as beautiful and creepy as we remembered.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on May 15, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/05/binary-system-podcast-457-star-trek-lower-decks-and-dark-knights-of-steel/

“ALL the Cali-class ships ALL OF THEM.”

Kathryn watched three episodes of Star Trek: Lower Decks this week, and Elizabeth rewatched two of them, so she can contribute something helpful. (For once – Kathryn.) (Yes ALL RIGHT. – Elizabeth)

Anyway, the final two episodes of season three solve the mystery of Rutherford, bring T’Lyn to the ship, and has one of the most badass gatherings of ships named after California cities; up to this point we’d completely missed why a “California-class” ship would be named “The Cerritos.” Yes, it takes us a while sometimes.

After that we briefly touch on DC’s Dark Knights of Steel, which wrapped up at least two years ago but we’re just finding out about it now, which is not surprising if you know us but is such a shame because it’s SO PRETTY YOU GUYS SERIOUSLY HOW DID WE NOT KNOW THIS EXISTED?

This week’s outro is a clip from Breathless by Noisy Oyster.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan’s castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!

This episode originally broadcast on May 8, 2025. The original podcast post is here: https://pixelatedgeek.com/2025/05/binary-system-podcast-456-wtnv-267-missed-connections-and-more-star-trek-lower-decks/

s week in Night Vale, Cecil's starting a new segment: Missed Connections. I'm sure you're all familiar with the concept, where you throw all of your longing and regret into the public forum in the hopes that one person (or in the case here, one car, one planet, one train, or one very untrustworthy partner in crime who can't keep running forever, Sebastian) will tune in at just the right time and instinctively know that you're talking about them. There's also a little about gently-expired soup and how Arby's is the most romantic place on Earth, if you happen to be Cecil.

Kathryn also has a full recap of Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 3 Episode 8 (Hee, George Takei said "horsey".) We then devoted some time to talk about (yet another) WorldCon scandal, this one involving the committee using AI to vet their panelists. We have some thoughts about this, but if you take one thing away from the discussion it should be this: ChatGPT Is. Not. A. Search. Engine. That is all.

This week's outro is a clip from Fountains by Noisy Oyster.

The song "I'm So Bored" by Mal Blum has a music video!

Update: WorldCon has released an apology (and explanation?) for the use of ChatGPT.

Looking for a present for that hard-to-shop-for person? Want to buy them (or yourself) a square foot of a castle in Scotland? Look no further! You can support the restoration of Dunan's castle, legally call yourself Lady or Laird, AND if you use this link to get there, you can support this podcast too! ScottishLaird.co.uk.

For updates, fan art, and other randomness, come follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram!