Star Trek: Strange New Worlds -SPOILERS

[Gary]

Finally finished the first season of Strange New Worlds!
Overall the series left me with the same impression the pilot episode gave me. Namely that this would have worked better as a post-TNG series rather than a prequel. That would have cleared up continuity problems and gave the characters more room to evolve. As it is many (Pike, Spock, T’pring, Nurse Chapel, ect) are effectively trapped by canon- even though the series is ignoring it for the most part. Normally it was be easy to want to see Spock and T’pring get married or alternately for Spock and Chapel to happen. But unless they want to massively alter what canon they’re sticking it T’pring is doomed to become a psychopath and Chapel descend into a forgotten background character.
For the good though this is a very good looking series and rather like a throwback to classic TV. The sets are properly lit with no queasy cam or lens flares and the episodic nature makes re-watching easier. The writing though is a little uneven with really good portions coupled with clucky or even cringey scenes.

I think this is a fair assessment. The series has the look and feel of "authentic" Star Trek, and Anson Mount is a believable Pike with unbelievable hair.

If you think his hair is unbelievable, then you should watch the series Hell on Wheels. That's where I first saw him as an actor. Great series.

[Lupine]

In all this handled the question over the treatment of Augments better than DS9 or ENT did- both of which seemed to justify the rather un-egalitarian views that the Federation and Starfleet hold.

Unfortunately, they're pretty much stuck with that, otherwise everybody would be an Augment-- they would have been better off ignoring it.

I'm OK with the show acknowledging it even with the Federation still having that particular bias. What I liked here though rather than what we saw in DS9 or ENT is that the writers were questioning the bias rather than excusing it.

I would have preferred the ultimate resolution to Dr. M’binga’s daughter’s illness to have come via a different route as this seemed a little rushed. I also thought that M’binga agreed to the Bozeman Brain’s offer too quickly- even if it were completely well-intentioned.

I thought the same thing, but it is the kind of thing that would happen in TOS.

True, but this is an area TNG did better. Like the episode where a boy's mother was killed unintentionally and an alien wants to take the boy away to raise in what is a fantasy- a pleasant fantasy but a fantasy nonetheless. And Picard then questions just what kind of life the child would have. This is situation was obviously different as M'binga's daughter was dying but it was a question that should have been asked. More of a quality of life question.

I don’t buy that Pike’s future is un-avoidable despite what he’s shown about the future.

The whole idea of Pike being shown his future was monumentally stupid. Unless it's not. My thought-- and maybe I'm giving them too much credit-- is that they are leading up to a series finale that shows us what happened to Pike after "The Menagerie." His vision only showed him that he would be crippled, but nothing about being brought back to Talos. Also, the Talosians were obviously lying about not being able to restore Vina in the pilot, so they were probably also lying about not being able to cure Pike. My hope is that the Talosians have some grand design in mind for Pike, as befits a hero of his stature, and that we'll get a glimpse of it in the finale. Also, it occurred to me at some point after I wrote my own review of this episode that the Admiral Pike from the future might actually have been like Commodore Mendez in "The Menagerie," an illusion sent by the Talosians to keep Pike on the path that they need him on.

I was wondering if someone or something else was trying to manipulate him.

[RJDiogenes]

If you think his hair is unbelievable, then you should watch the series Hell on Wheels. That's where I first saw him as an actor. Great series.

Geez, I would never know it's him.

I'm OK with the show acknowledging it even with the Federation still having that particular bias. What I liked here though rather than what we saw in DS9 or ENT is that the writers were questioning the bias rather than excusing it.

Showing once again that this timeline is more than a century ahead of ours.

True, but this is an area TNG did better. Like the episode where a boy's mother was killed unintentionally and an alien wants to take the boy away to raise in what is a fantasy- a pleasant fantasy but a fantasy nonetheless. And Picard then questions just what kind of life the child would have. This is situation was obviously different as M'binga's daughter was dying but it was a question that should have been asked. More of a quality of life question.

It's also possible that there will be repercussions in a later episode.

[scottydog]

If you think his hair is unbelievable, then you should watch the series Hell on Wheels. That's where I first saw him as an actor. Great series.

Wait, this is Anson Mount??

[RJDiogenes]

Yes, the one from the Mirror Universe.

[Gary]

Yes, the one from the Mirror Universe.

Nope. He doesn't have a goatee.

[Gary]

Two more days until Season 2.

[RJDiogenes]

And everybody remember we have a new thread.

[scottydog]

Two more days until Season 2.