All I'm saying is that it's a very different franchise if Beverly Crusher can't go to Space Scottland and fall in love with her grandmother's parasite with only minimal kink-shaming from her psychic best friend!

Star Wars could never!

Anyway, it does suffer from all the problems the prequels do---some of the dialogue is rough, Lucas doesn't always know how to frame his plots and themes so they absolutely sing, and a few of the choices (Jar-Jar) are dubious, to say the least. But TPM backlash was an overcorrection!

Podracing. This is the one with Podracing. Bump it up *at least* a step

People do not appreciate how many little scenes go to real character arcs. Jar-Jar calling out Padme for her fucking racism, and her having to find some humility to take back the planet, is some underrated character work

I wouldn't say the visuals could *save* a worse movie, but I do think some of its admitted rough spots are compensated for by the fact it is one of the most visually interesting.

John Williams always turns in good work, but he was in fine form for this one too

It got a reputation for being inessential, but the whole trilogy turns on the dinner scene on Tatooine where Anikan declares he will use his wizard powers to keep his loved ones from dying at any cost. His failure to grow out of that is the coming tragedy

On theme, TPM is about greed. The first act is an invasion over a trade dispute, the second act is about slavery, the third act is about political corruption allowing those things, and the fourth act is about the factions around Naboo setting their differences aside to overcome it

If you're not willing to participate in tipping, don't go to places where the workers depend on tips! Refusing to tip is just *you* extracting labor without pay. Like, Jesus fucking Christ!

(This is a little uncharitable, and could fairly be said to be in some measure bitterness from years of Online, but also, not for nothing, I have those experiences)

This also isn't a "Hell hath no fury" situation and her interest and involvement in the case is entirely justifiable by their stations in the Empire

She is, maybe, lying a bit to herself when she says it's only professional, though

Well, and as much as I'm joking about not answering your questions, the thing consuming my thoughts is, "What if the future were knowable and fixed like history?" and so don't worry, I feel like I'm in the spirit of your questions

And internal/external view of timelines is a whole thing!

Kira, doing a great prompt series: So what is the past?
Me, a gremlin: So, time is pretzel-shaped so let me tell you about the future, which the characters remember like the past

Time travel being time travel, the 11th Century uprising is not contained to the 11th Century, though most of the events that aren't are clandestine