I just watched the series premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the newest Star Trek series (For those who don't know what this one's about it's the adventures of the Enterprise under Captain Christopher Pike, who led the crew before James T. Kirk took command). I have to admit I still have a bit of a problem with the updated "21st century idea of what future stuff should look like" (I wish they'd just recreated the original sets from 1965, but that ain't happenin') and some of the Treknology should NOT exist at this point in Star Trek canon, but I still really, really enjoyed it. Much more than "Discovery" or even "Picard" because it actually FELT like Star Trek to me; kinda cheesy, kinda preachy in all the best ways the original series was. I think I'm going to like this.
If you're a fan of The Original Series or Next Generation, I think you'll like it.
I just watched Episode #2. I'll watch it at least once more. If you know me, you know I don't rewatch things very often, even if I enjoy them. But it feels like, at least to me, "real" Star Trek is back. This episode further solidified that for me.
The main way this show seems to differ from TOS is the fact that we have a strong sense of where certain characters are going. For the new characters, we have no idea whether they will die soon or whether they will have long and distinguished careers and go on to bigger and better things by the time Captain Kirk takes over.
We know that Uhura and Chapel will be okay, as they are still serving on the Enterprise at that point.
But we can see the beginnings of some very bad things happening to Captain Pike, Spock, Lt. Kirk, and Dr. M'Benga. Can anyone see why I am sure that something bad happens in regard to Dr. M'Benga? The other three should be obvious to anyone who watched TOS.
I'm definitely unaware of any bad ending for M'Benga in Trek lore. What do you think is going to happen to him?
I'm definitely unaware of any bad ending for M'Benga in Trek lore. What do you think is going to happen to him?
A demotion. He is chief medical officer on Pike's Enterprise, but he is a subordinate medical officer on Kirk's Enterprise, despite having a wider base of medical knowledge than McCoy does. Since his closest friend on the Enterprise seems to be Captain Pike, something must have tainted his career to prevent him from being chief medical officer on another ship or in some position of even greater responsibility.
I'm definitely unaware of any bad ending for M'Benga in Trek lore. What do you think is going to happen to him?A demotion. He is chief medical officer on Pike's Enterprise, but he is a subordinate medical officer on Kirk's Enterprise, despite having a wider base of medical knowledge than McCoy does. Since his closest friend on the Enterprise seems to be Captain Pike, something must have tainted his career to prevent him from being chief medical officer on another ship or in some position of even greater responsibility.
Gotcha. It did occur to me that it seems as if he was demoted when I found out he was to be the CMO and not Phil Boyce, as shown in "The Cage" and "The Menagerie". I just put it in my head canon that he had left the Enterprise before McCoy was assigned to her and his appearances in TOS were because he was temporarily reassigned to her between posts on a different starship and as such wouldn't be considered the Chief Medical Officer because of that.
He probably did leave the Enterprise at some point and returned to it later, with Chapel, Spock, and Uhura vouching for him when he returned. The problem, of course, is that he should have had better opportunities available to him at that point.
It would have had even worse implications for him if he remained on the Enterprise the whole time.
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Episode 4 and still knocking it out of the park. Why oh why did it take them so long to realize that THIS is what fans really wanted?
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Episode 4 and still knocking it out of the park. Why oh why did it take them so long to realize that THIS is what fans really wanted?
This is hands down the best episode so far and SNW is an excellent series.
However, please speak for yourself. I really wanted, for example, Picard, and loved it, even though it was veered wide from "typical" Star Trek. Although maybe I am not, perhaps, a fan. I am however, someone who has enjoyed most Star Trek series over the years.
Well, I thought I WAS speaking for myself! lol What's the disclaimer? "All opinions expressed are solely those of the author". I didn't mean to step on any toes and if I did, please accept my apologies.
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Well, I thought I WAS speaking for myself! lol What's the disclaimer? "All opinions expressed are solely those of the author". I didn't mean to step on any toes and if I did, please accept my apologies.
No toes stepped, and I did not intend that post to come off as sounding hurt or mad, so I'm sorry if I did (it's the angry Dr. Lucky hunter's face, isn't it?). For clarification, you said, "this is what fans really wanted," which insinuates you have an insight into what all fans want and are indeed speaking for all of them, not just yourself. I was responding to that choice of words and trying to be matter-of-fact about it.
But I think where we can definitely agree is that this (in your and my opinions) is a great series so far and this episode was super fun. :) Peace?
But I think where we can definitely agree is that this (in your and my opinions) is a great series so far and this episode was super fun. :) Peace?
Peace absolutely!
I was talking with a friend about this week's episode and we agreed it was almost necessary for the crew to have some time off after the completely terrifying moments with the Gorn. I was pretty much on the edge of my seat a couple of times.
Last week's ep was only eh for me (the big twist seemed to be telegraphed from the getgo and the whole story was predictable, even if the message behind everything was a good message) but this week's was fun (even if the twist was also a tad predictable).
I don't ever remember seeing Star Trek vs space pirates so that's long overdue. This said, it seemed way too easy for a bunch of ragtag pirates to overtake the ship (but then I understood they had a certain advantage), but it was fun to see how all parties worked together to save the day.
Last week's ep was only eh for me (the big twist seemed to be telegraphed from the getgo and the whole story was predictable, even if the message behind everything was a good message) but this week's was fun (even if the twist was also a tad predictable).
I don't ever remember seeing Star Trek vs space pirates so that's long overdue. This said, it seemed way too easy for a bunch of ragtag pirates to overtake the ship (but then I understood they had a certain advantage), but it was fun to see how all parties worked together to save the day.
I thought that takeover was awfully easy, too. I also have to wonder what the ship's crew complement is. In "The Cage", Captain Pike says the Enterprise has two hundred crewmembers, but during the Original Series it's established the number is 430. So, if they're going by the number set out in "The Cage" it would've have been easier to subdue the crew, but not that easy. It's the only real gripe I have about this episode. Ok, that and Captain Angel suddenly becoming one of the worst over-acting villains ever.
Overall, I enjoyed the episode, but it seemed like something of a filler episode. I sure hope they have an explanation for next week's episode because the trailer for that one looks mighty silly.
So things were looking like another humorous "filler" episode, and in some ways it was. It was a direct homage to some of the less serious episodes of The Original Series. Then they punched me right in the feels. Jerks. Great episode.
Oh, there was also a Deep Space 9 Easter egg in today's episode!
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Loving this series. Some of the trekiest episodes that ever treked. And ongoing storylines.
Loving this series. Some of the trekiest episodes that ever treked. And ongoing storylines.
It really feels, at least to me, like the best of both worlds (pun intended). New adventures each week with character growth and strong continuity threaded through it all without taking anything away from each element. I have been completely blown away by SNW.
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So things were looking like another humorous "filler" episode, and in some ways it was. It was a direct homage to some of the less serious episodes of The Original Series. Then they punched me right in the feels. Jerks. Great episode.
Yeah it was good stuff. Once you realized it was all about the kid's bedtime story you knew it was going to get bittersweet as f@@$.
I bet the actors had super fun with this one too.
I bet the actors had super fun with this one too.
You could just see Anson Mount and Melissa Navia were absolutely loving getting to ham it up.
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People say the future ruins everything.
An obvious effect of the internet is any tv show any time i want it.
A less obvious effect of streaming is that producers are willing to ditch episodic format and do longer more complicated stories. Its not an unreasonable expectation for the audience to catch up on missing episodes.
I was not emotionally prepared for today's episode.
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**belly rubs the adorable babies and has no idea what everyones complaining about**
Even though SNW has been doing episodes with riffs on different sci-fi genres and past Star Wars tropes, I wasn't expecting them to do their riff on Aliens.
Good creepy episode. I'm pissed a bit about the outcome because
Hemmer had a lot of potential, and while his storyline and death was treated well within this story, I don't think we saw enough of him yet before we lost him. Plus even though Star Trek is ultimately about humanity and the journey of what it means to be human, I always like the alien characters and exploring who and what they are.
His ending was a little bit of a gender-reverse fridge to motivate Uhura to stay and I feel like there was a bit of waste there. Well, perhaps that's not fair. True fridgings only focus exclusively on the feelings of the person grieving the character (usually a woman) lost, not on the dead character's story, how the character's death serve their story, and how others are impacted by the character and their death. They did avoid that by giving Hemmer some good internal motivation and closure to his own storyline and the funeral that followed, but still strip things down to the bare narrative points and the primary plot purpose of his death is not to serve Hemmer's story but Uhura's. And I think both Hemmer and Uhura deserve better--she also deserved a deeper exploration and way to decide to stay, because now it feels like her commitment is based on doing it for someone else rather than herself. Maybe I need to rewatch to get a better take on it though. We always know Uhura will stay so why she stays becomes even more important.
This said it was a strong episode.
I wonder whether they rearranged the order of the episodes at some point? It would explain a lot if the episodes that omitted Hemmer were originally meant to be aired after the episode in which he died.
This was just such a great episode, even though they did make a big nod toward "Aliens". I think it was made even creepier because it was Star Trek and we don't usually get that sort of fare with the franchise.
And dang it, even after a second viewing I still have something in my eyes.
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And dang it, even after a second viewing I still have something in my eyes.
And dang it, even after a second viewing I still have something in my eyes.
Gee! T'anks!
OK, I am unabashedly acting like a complete fanboy here, but what an absolutely stellar (no pun intended, I promise) way to end Season One!! Holy frijoles that was just amazing. I love this series so bad.
Now, as with all things, there is another side to contend with, because HE looked like Dick Sargent, who played Darren on Bewitched (you'll see who and what I mean when you watch it). But aside from that really minor quibble, I don't think they could have done a better job at ending a season. "Strange New Worlds" is where it's at, man. (Sorry, 1960s expression trigged by Darren on a starship).
Binge-watched this over a weekend cat-sitting (accidentally bought a bluray rather than DVD). Is anyone familiar with Mercedes Lackey's song "Medic" and does it seem tangentially applicable to Chappel and the security officer?
I'm really excited about this coming Thursday and Season Two!
Well, Season Two, Episode One is in the bag and I really enjoyed it, despite them still peeing all over established Trek continuity (believe me when I tell you my molars have been worn smooth by all the teeth-gritting I do while watching it). It's still the first thing that's felt like "real Star Trek" in a long, long time and I look forward to every episode.
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I enjoyed it. Carol Kane was an unexpected but fun bonus.
This is not a criticism of those who enjoy Trek lore. It's got a huge wealth of world build and I get why that's attractive.
At the same time, while I've watched Trek regularly since childhood, I've paid minimal attention to lore outside of the broad sweeping things you need to know (Starfleet generally the good guys, Vulcans logical, Romulans cunning, Klingons aggressive, Starfleet used to fight with previous two, Borg are Cybermen with a hot lady Cyberleader (though not anymore), Prime Directive, Q is an annoying walking plot device who refuses to go away, the Trouble with Tribbles, and there's something in there about KHAAAAN!). What I can't tell you is what stardate happened when and the intricacies of the politics and how the technology is supposed to work (something something deuterium injectors plasma conduits dilithium reverse the polarity of the neutron flow). And generally because I haven't paid attention to those things, I think it's why, I personally, tend to be able to watch Star Trek without flying into a nerd rage (I save that for Doctor Who).
Why I keep watching is there's tons of allegory about human nature (despite the galactic setting, Star Trek is all about what it means to be human, with the aliens representing different facets of humanity), and they keep being good at telling stories using those allegories.
And this show is doing an especially good job telling stories.
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Enjoyed the show. Continue to fight with those who think it isn't real star trek. Life goes on.
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Wow, surprised to see no comments on Ep 2 yet. Thought it was very good, with classic nods to other Trek episodes (the one where they have to prove Data is sapient in particular), but also just really good story and very much at the heart of what Trek is about.
I thought it was a superb episode and fully embraced Roddenberry's hopes for the future when he created Star Trek.
We have just started watching this, roughly proceeding at an episode a night until we catch up to the new season.....just hit ep9 of season 1.
Bravo on the choice to make the Gorn even more terrifying than they already were. Pike's mission must be taking them a lot closer to Gorn space than Kirk's did.
Does make me wonder what ever happened to the Gorn by TNG time period. I'm not sure they were ever mentioned.
Gorn wedding?!?
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Enjoyed the show. Continue to fight with those who think it isn't real star trek. Life goes on.
I will continue bopping them with my light saber!
Started on Season 2 now and nice to see normal Klingons although I do wonder if we will see any Smooth Head ones during the series.
I really enjoy what they are doing with the characters, it's a lot like Old Trek but with greater character development.
Plus I do love that they are using the Gorn for this. They were always one of my favourite races from the original series even if they only had the one episode. I used to play them in Star Fleet Battles all the time back in high school
Dear Star Trek writers, producers, and showrunners, stop messing with the timeline.
That is all.
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Dear Star Trek writers, producers, and showrunners, keep giving us good stories. If that means messing with the timeline, mess away.
That is all.
Dear Star Trek writers, producers, and showrunners, keep giving us good stories. If that means messing with the timeline, mess away.
That is all.
Ok...time to sharpen the bat'leths... :)
The idea of sliding temporal events dose make a bit of sense though. I mean the Eugenics wars were supposed to happen in the 90s originally and ...we are a bit past that point. WW3 starts in 2 years
Sliding some of the background events around using the Temporal Cold war as an excuse isn't the best solution but it works.
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Yeah, with my limited knowledge of the universe's internal history, I thought what they were actually doing was fixing previous messing with the timeline.
I'm tired of time travel in most sci fi (outside Doctor Who, where it's required) as it's so often just used as a lazy reset button and confuses things. Any timeline shenanigans aside though, this at least was a fun story that was reasonably self-contained, and I appreciated getting to know La'an much better.
But I'm seriously mad they wasted the opportunity for Jim to say at some point, "LA'AAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Yeah, with my limited knowledge of the universe's internal history, I thought what they were actually doing was fixing previous messing with the timeline.
I'm tired of time travel in most sci fi (outside Doctor Who, where it's required) as it's so often just used as a lazy reset button and confuses things. Any timeline shenanigans aside though, this at least was a fun story that was reasonably self-contained, and I appreciated getting to know La'an much better.
But I'm seriously mad they wasted the opportunity for Jim to say at some point, "LA'AAAAAAAAAAAN!"
looking forward to tonight's episode.
Also PM sent.
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Those "True Nature of Man" stories are always neat.
and glad we got a little more Ortega