Star Trek: Strange New Worlds -SPOILERS

[scottydog]

I'll have to watch it with my buddy Jim in L'ville tomorrow.

[RJDiogenes]

All I can say is that Pike must have really hated Jim Kirk-- Pike's got quarters the size of The 99 and just as well equipped, and by the time Kirk took over it had been retrofitted to a closet-sized studio without even a replicator.

It was amusing when Ortegas said, "It's a small ship," and Uhura disagreed-- her opinion supported by a wide shot corridors that could fit an SUV. So much for the hardships of life on the frontier.

But one thing about this show is that, so far, it's taking its title seriously. A major facet of Star Trek, which sadly kind of faded away after the first couple of seasons of TNG, was that good old Sci-Fi sense of wonder-- the feeling that the universe is a vast and mysterious, almost mystical, place. The first two episodes, at least, have done a decent job of recapturing that spirit.

I love how they're spending so much time on character interactions at the expense of action. Yes, there was a bit of a space battle and they played asteroids for a while, but it was a good ten minutes into the episode before they even started the story. And when the crisis was over, the aliens just declared that they are not enemies and left.

The mysterious comet itself did a good job of conjuring up that sense of wonder-- since it speaks in music, perhaps it is related to that obelisk in the Miramanee episode. It could also be related to the ancient aliens mentioned a couple of times in TOS and TNG. In any case, it was cool and intriguing.

The characterizations are generally good, although all over the map. L'an is still a Klingon wannabe and the Andorian is apparently going to represent the obnoxious person with a disability who won't let anyone help him. Ortegas seems like she's going to be fun, but I hope her piloting skills don't keep her away from the landing party. Chapel is wonderfully flirtatious for somebody on a Millennial show-- apparently the Enterprise doesn't have a Human Resources Department. Sad to think that her relationship with Korby will knock all the life out of her, if that happens in this timeline.

Speaking of this timeline, the plot twist of Pike knowing the future is surely one of the worst ideas ever. Apparently his angst over "knowing" he's going to die will be his character arc-- except, of course, that he's not going to die. He's going to get a sweet retirement with Vina. But perhaps the writers of SNW will make the most of it by giving him a grand destiny beyond Talos. After all, it was obvious that the Talosians were lying about not being able to cure Pike and Vina, and they did want Pike back once he was hurt, so perhaps they have a mission for him. That wouldn't be a bad outcome. One thing I did like about that sub-plot was how he memorized the names of the kids he will save-- that was a nice touch.

Sam Kirk, on the other hand, will not have a grand destiny, I don't think. Rather, he seems to be the comic relief. Pike ribbed him about his mustache and then he stupidly got himself killed on the comet. Spock did manage to revive him, but he was literally never seen or heard about again for the rest of the episode-- it took them so long to get off the comet that he may have died and nobody noticed.

[Lupine]

Got to watch the first episode on YouTube!

The biggest flaw came close to the beginning, in the Vulcan sequence. Man, the people involved really have no concept of Vulcan culture or character. The dialogue and interactions were awful. I'm not sure if the scene technically violates TOS continuity, and I'm sure the apologists will have their excuses, but at the very least they were playing fast and loose with it. But it was bad, maybe worse than the Vulcan scenes in Enterprise, which were pretty bad.

Yeah that was really cringy and I almost bailed at that point. The writers can't seem to understand that Vulcans aren't human much less American- there are modern cultures where their behavior wouldn't be accepted.

The second big flaw was to the main plot of the First Contact scenario. The basic idea of the planet creating a warp bomb before a warp engine was clever, and proves there's still potential in the Star Trek concept without going bananas, but the details don't hold up. First of all, the event that the aliens saw that resulted in them gaining warp technology was over a light year away, so they wouldn't have been able to see it yet. Second, I don't think it would be possible to reverse engineer a warp drive remotely. They would have been able to confirm that the technology is possible and maybe able to glean some insight into the physics using spectroscopy or gravitational measurements or somesuch, but that's about it.

Agreed. It would have worked better if Number One's ship had merely crashed on the planet. It would have cleaned the plot up immensely.

That said, the story itself was in the classic mold. Coming into orbit and finding a deserted starship, beaming down in disguise, getting caught, resolving the situation with reason and ethics. Perfect. Even the use of contemporary news footage during Pike's extemporaneous speech was reminiscent of "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield." Also, I liked the twist of them getting the cart before the horse. As in classic Trek, there was a solid contemporary message delivered through the mechanism of the alien encounter.

That scene sold the episode. Probably one of the best Trek moments in the last couple of decades. Certainly worth watching more than once (I've watched it 3 times now )

Cadet Uhura was nicely done, especially in the elevator scene.

I like that scene. It's nice to see someone calmly and rationally talking someone down using understanding.

Nurse Chapel was weirdly perky and mischievous and I don't think her presence is consistent with her life history in the original timeline, but that hardly matters at this point.

Yeah, I liked the character but she didn't remind me of Christine Chapel at all. Probably would have been better

The only character I didn't like much was Khan. She's basically just a Klingon-wannabe pain fetishest who blurts out her gory backstory in a lump of exposition.

I rather liked Singh. She seemed the most professional of the crew and a lot of modern Trek's problems is the general lack of professionalism with the crews. And I understand her lack of desire for pain meds as I saw my mother refusing meds on occasion as she didn't want to be incapacitated (and to occasionally to show off )

It's odd that they're trying to pass the show off as a true prequel with all the vast differences in design and technology. This Enterprise could have been an F iteration captained by Cris Rios in the 25th century. They have intra-ship beaming, intra-eyeball beaming, genetic mods in a hypo, and voice-activated communicators, among other things. The ship itself is several times bigger than the original (evidently so that it wouldn't look so pathetic next to Discovery) and that size difference is apparent in the sets-- Sick Bay is the size of San Francisco Bay, Pike's quarters are bigger than the original Bridge and the Bridge is the size of Mission Control. And Engineering looks like one of those shafts in Forbidden Planet.

After Nu-Trek this is something we'll just have to live with.

But, for the most part, this was a great effort and really captured the right spirit. It's kind of a shame, because if they had just changed some of the character names and set it in the 25th century, this could have been a Trek revival on par with Next Generation.

I keep wondering this. A next-next generation show like this would have worked great. Why keep circling the drain on prequels?

[scottydog]

I keep wondering this. A next-next generation show like this would have worked great. Why keep circling the drain on prequels?

The only explanation I can think of is that the showrunners assume that everyone wants to revisit the "names" of familiar characters. It's certainly not the image and likeness of the characters -- only the names

[RJDiogenes]

Got to watch the first episode on YouTube!

Nice! I should have thought of that, since they put up the first episode of the cartoon.

Yeah that was really cringy and I almost bailed at that point. The writers can't seem to understand that Vulcans aren't human much less American- there are modern cultures where their behavior wouldn't be accepted.

Seriously. Nimoy went out of his way to add exotic alien elements like the two-fingered rubbing, and the neck pinch, and the salute, and so forth.

That scene sold the episode. Probably one of the best Trek moments in the last couple of decades. Certainly worth watching more than once (I've watched it 3 times now )

Definitely. It was great and made me love Pike.

Yeah, I liked the character but she didn't remind me of Christine Chapel at all.

Given the general attention to detail, I wonder if her experience with Dr Korby will just knock the life out of her, and that's the reason for making her so perky.

I rather liked Singh. She seemed the most professional of the crew and a lot of modern Trek's problems is the general lack of professionalism with the crews. And I understand her lack of desire for pain meds as I saw my mother refusing meds on occasion as she didn't want to be incapacitated (and to occasionally to show off )

After I wrote that, it occurred to me that there may be something going on with her biology because she's an augment, or descended from augments, and she perhaps cannot tolerate pain meds. Chapel and M'Benga will be quite upset when they find out, if that's the case.

After Nu-Trek this is something we'll just have to live with.

Yup. It's an alternate universe. Nothing to be done about it.

I keep wondering this. A next-next generation show like this would have worked great. Why keep circling the drain on prequels?

Right, exactly. There's no reason for either of these shows to be prequels.

The only explanation I can think of is that the showrunners assume that everyone wants to revisit the "names" of familiar characters. It's certainly not the image and likeness of the characters -- only the names

I think that's the case with Strange New Worlds, because of popular demand-- but with Discovery they tried to mostly avoid it until the show failed so badly that they brought in Enterprise to save it.

[RJDiogenes]

Ah, the grueling life of space pioneers, exploring the vast emptiness of the final frontier in their executive suite crew quarters and Top-of-the-Hub fine dining rec room.

Anyway....

One pattern that I'm noticing with this show is that every episode seems to include an homage to some classic Sci-Fi movie. The first episode was quite blatant about it, showing a clip from The Day The Earth Stood Still, episode two had a bit of Close Encounters to it, and this episode had a bit of Forbidden Planet-- if this is being done deliberately, they should have used FP for the pilot, just for the sake of pedigree.

In any case, the show is continuing its mission to revive the Star Trek ideal of one-episode morality plays, and is still managing to be evocative of Classic Trek while giving each plot a novel or contemporary twist (as did Picard to a degree). This episode revisits the topic of random prejudice but here we have people-- Number One, Singh, and the Illyrians-- carrying shame and guilt for things that their ancestors did. The religious concept of original sin that is one of the engines of current strife.

Speaking of Singh, apparently it's no secret who she is descended from and that individual is well known. In this universe, Khan will not be hiding his identity for very long. But it seems odd that Singh, who clearly has those augmented genes, would be admitted to Starfleet, given their prohibitions and Number One's need to lie about her own enhancements. It's kind of a parallel to Picard, where Seven was rejected but Icheb was not.

And we also learn of another character's hidden past of angst: Doc M'Benga has a very young daughter who he has been keeping in a transporter buffer on the ship-- somehow without anyone knowing, but it seems remarkably easy to keep secrets in Starfleet-- because she has a terminal illness. In the buffer, she doesn't age and, of course, her illness does not progress. Which begs the question why this isn't standard management in the 23rd century. And not just for medicine, but for life extension.

I've also been thinking about the character of M'Benga. In TOS, where he was a staff physician under McCoy, he was a young man, not even thirty. That would make him a resident, if not a student, in SNW. The M'Benga we're seeing here is clearly older, probably in his 40s. This is either an error, an alternate-universe reimagining, or else McCoy's Vulcan specialist is the son of this M'Benga.

For a return to the optimistic high adventure of TOS, SNW is sure giving its cast a lot of baggage. Let's review:

Pike: Has seen his own death, causing trauma.

Number One: Is secretly a superwoman, causing trauma.

Singh: Has a bad ancestor and her family was eaten by lizard aliens, causing trauma.

Uhura: Her family died randomly, causing trauma.

M'Benga: Young daughter is deathly ill, causing trauma.

Spock: Engaged to T'Pring, causing trauma.

Chapel: Will soon get engaged only for her fiancee to disappear, causing trauma.

Hemmer: So far just causes trauma (he's such a jerk that I'm assuming he has a comeuppance episode coming).

But, aside from the soap operas and the ridiculously over-designed alternate Enterprise, the show continues to have a strong core. This is mostly the Star Trek I've wanted for almost twenty years (and when it finally comes, it's a reboot ), so I hope its ratings and audience reaction embolden the conservative suits at Paramount to ask for more of the same.

[scottydog]

Another enjoyable episode. I never thought I'd enjoy "stand-alone" episodes again, but I do -- very much so in fact. There's less cognitive work to do, for one thing, and one purpose of television should be to allow us to turn our brains off

Ah, the grueling life of space pioneers, exploring the vast emptiness of the final frontier in their executive suite crew quarters and Top-of-the-Hub fine dining rec room.

Yes, this starship reminds me more and more of the Love Boat cruise ship

One pattern that I'm noticing with this show is that every episode seems to include an homage to some classic Sci-Fi movie. The first episode was quite blatant about it, showing a clip from The Day The Earth Stood Still, episode two had a bit of Close Encounters to it, and this episode had a bit of Forbidden Planet

That's a great observation. I can't wait until they pay homage to that all-time classic, Snow White and the Three Stooges.

In any case, the show is continuing its mission to revive the Star Trek ideal of one-episode morality plays, and is still managing to be evocative of Classic Trek while giving each plot a novel or contemporary twist... here we have people-- Number One, Singh, and the Illyrians-- carrying shame and guilt for things that their ancestors did.

Amazing that you know how to spell "Illyrians" It's probably no coincidence that their species contains the word "ill" And you're right about morality playing a key role here. Most characters on this show, including the aliens, have good intentions. That's an important part of the appeal of the original Star Trek.

And we also learn of another character's hidden past of angst: Doc M'Benga has a very young daughter who he has been keeping in a transporter buffer on the ship-- somehow without anyone knowing, but it seems remarkably easy to keep secrets in Starfleet-- because she has a terminal illness. In the buffer, she doesn't age and, of course, her illness does not progress. Which begs the question why this isn't standard management in the 23rd century. And not just for medicine, but for life extension.

I can imagine debates about the ethics of keeping people in such a holding pattern -- especially a child who can't really give proper "consent" for such a recourse.

SNW is sure giving its cast a lot of baggage. Let's review:
Pike: Has seen his own death, causing trauma.
Number One: Is secretly a superwoman, causing trauma.
Singh: Has a bad ancestor and her family was eaten by lizard aliens, causing trauma.
Uhura: Her family died randomly, causing trauma.
M'Benga: Young daughter is deathly ill, causing trauma.
Spock: Engaged to T'Pring, causing trauma.
Chapel: Will soon get engaged only for her fiancee to disappear, causing trauma.

I guess all this trauma makes sense, given our current society's epidemic of depression and anxiety. I'd add that Spock's trauma also includes growing up ostracized for being bi-racial and for putting up with his sister/brother Michael Burnham, who I'm not even sure exists in SNW's universe

the show continues to have a strong core. This is mostly the Star Trek I've wanted for almost twenty years (and when it finally comes, it's a reboot ), so I hope its ratings and audience reaction embolden the conservative suits at Paramount to ask for more of the same.

I agree! I have a smart young friend in his 30s in Australia who agrees. I think you'll enjoy reading his review of SNW.

[RJDiogenes]

Another enjoyable episode. I never thought I'd enjoy "stand-alone" episodes again, but I do -- very much so in fact.

I've been looking forward to it for a long time. I generally enjoy short stories more than novels.

Yes, this starship reminds me more and more of the Love Boat cruise ship

I think Sam Kirk is Gopher.

That's a great observation. I can't wait until they pay homage to that all-time classic, Snow White and the Three Stooges.

They might. Every series except Discovery does comedy episodes.

Amazing that you know how to spell "Illyrians"

Luck.

Most characters on this show, including the aliens, have good intentions. That's an important part of the appeal of the original Star Trek.

Yeah, three episodes in and no villains. I think the downward slide of Trek began when the audience and creators started thinking in terms of villains instead of stories, which can ultimately be traced back to the Borg.

I can imagine debates about the ethics of keeping people in such a holding pattern -- especially a child who can't really give proper "consent" for such a recourse.

I imagine he's empowered to give consent for her, but not if the procedure is illegal. Which must mean that there's potential for negative side effects due to the signal degradation. He claims to have found a way around that, but what if he's wrong? What if her cognitive faculties are slowly being whittled away?

I guess all this trauma makes sense, given our current society's epidemic of depression and anxiety. I'd add that Spock's trauma also includes growing up ostracized for being bi-racial and for putting up with his sister/brother Michael Burnham, who I'm not even sure exists in SNW's universe

He mentioned her in the first episode. And then there's also his half brother from Final Frontier. What a mess all that is.

I agree! I have a smart young friend in his 30s in Australia who agrees. I think you'll enjoy reading his review of SNW.

I definitely agree with most of what he says about Strange New Worlds. I do disagree about Picard being inspiring, but that is probably an age thing.

[scottydog]

New episode coming up!

[RJDiogenes]

And I remembered!

Fifty-five minutes. That's more like it. Of course, it was kind of padded out with a couple of less-than-interesting subplots, but it's a step in the right direction.

I can't say that this was my favorite episode so far, thanks to too much Singh and Hemmer, but it certainly maintained the quality of the previous episodes. It also maintained its tradition of featuring an homage to a classic Sci-Fi movie in each story-- and this time it was Wrath of Khan. It was very much evocative of TWOK-- and, by extension, "Balance of Terror"-- with its callback to submarine warfare tropes (loved the creaking hull). The initial recon on the planet was also very reminiscent of Regula One. The action in the atmosphere of the Brown Dwarf and the Black Hole was probably just as silly as the Mutara Nebula at the other extreme, but it was nice to see some contemporary astronomy being used.

Looks like the Gorn will be the recurring adversary here, and they're going to be smart and keep them out of sight. Hopefully that means no Romulans and no alt-Klingons. The Gorn method of communicating between ships with green flashlights was not the best idea, but it was eerily alien and I liked it. One of the best things about this show is how it recaptures that old TOS feeling of the universe as a mysterious place-- I hope they don't let that aspect of it fade away.

The focus of the episode was supposed to be on Singh and Hemmer, but it was really Pike and Ortegas who stole the show. There were several times when Pike's performance packed a real emotional punch, moreso than previously, and Ortegas is just a fun cowboy character. Hopefully she'll be getting her own episode before the season is through, and not because her family is eaten by space lizards or killed in a flying car crash or something.

The subplots for Hemmer and Number One were less compelling, but not not too bad. I liked Hemmer's comment that pacifism does not equal passivity. And one of the best moments of the episode was Number One waking up from (general) anesthesia and seeing herself hooked up to M'Benga for direct transfusion-- a simple, but very touching, resolution. Having worked all those years in health care with people who donated their time in Third-World countries, I have known many examples of that very thing happening.

So no deep messages in this one, but some very strong character work from the writers and actors, and some nice snappy dialogue as well. High marks, even if it didn't grab me as much as the others.

Also no Sam Kirk. We haven't seen him since the asteroid, so maybe he really is dead.

[scottydog]

Another really nice stand-alone episode. I had forgotten how much I enjoy this format. And each episode is not entirely stand-alone, in that there is continuity with regard to characterization and character development.

Fifty-five minutes. That's more like it. Of course, it was kind of padded out with a couple of less-than-interesting subplots, but it's a step in the right direction.

I seem to recall that TOS episodes ran about 50-minutes each, back when commercials ran only 9 or 10 minutes per hour. Those were the good old days.

The subplots are more reminiscent of TNG, which portrayed the ship in danger each week, with focus on the A-plot danger, the B-plot of Geordi striking out with a woman, and the C-plot of Worf abandoning his son

It also maintained its tradition of featuring an homage to a classic Sci-Fi movie in each story-- and this time it was Wrath of Khan. It was very much evocative of TWOK-- and, by extension, "Balance of Terror"-- with its callback to submarine warfare tropes (loved the creaking hull). The initial recon on the planet was also very reminiscent of Regula One.

Again, good observations and analogies on your part. I, too, thought of "Balance of Terror", with Kirk and Pike staying one step ahead of the enemy.

One of the best things about this show is how it recaptures that old TOS feeling of the universe as a mysterious place-- I hope they don't let that aspect of it fade away.

Exactly right. This series has found the sweet-spot in mixing optimism with a sense of awe and mystery.

There were several times when Pike's performance packed a real emotional punch

Yes. And not just Pike, but other characters stepped up emotionally, too.

I liked Hemmer's comment that pacifism does not equal passivity.

I loved this quote. People need to hear it and understand it.

And one of the best moments of the episode was Number One waking up from (general) anesthesia and seeing herself hooked up to M'Benga for direct transfusion-- a simple, but very touching, resolution.

I agree it was touching, but aren't M'Benga and Number One different species? How is their blood compatible?

Also no Sam Kirk. We haven't seen him since the asteroid, so maybe he really is dead.

I just knew his porn star mustache had trouble written all over it. It shaved his life

[RJDiogenes]

I seem to recall that TOS episodes ran about 50-minutes each, back when commercials ran only 9 or 10 minutes per hour. Those were the good old days.

Good point. Here I am thinking how long it was and it was only a bit longer than TOS.

The subplots are more reminiscent of TNG, which portrayed the ship in danger each week, with focus on the A-plot danger, the B-plot of Geordi striking out with a woman, and the C-plot of Worf abandoning his son

Poor Geordi. I hope he has a nice wife or girlfriend in Picard Season Three.

Exactly right. This series has found the sweet-spot in mixing optimism with a sense of awe and mystery.

That reaches from the inner mind to... oops, wrong show.

Yes. And not just Pike, but other characters stepped up emotionally, too.

There were two moments in particular-- the first when he was told that they couldn't raise shields and said, "Oh, no," in a particularly horrified voice, and then at the end when Uhura finally spoke up and he knew they weren't dead-- his sense of awesome relief was palpable.

I agree it was touching, but aren't M'Benga and Number One different species? How is their blood compatible?

Good question. I thought she was a human who was genetically engineered by Illyrians-- she must have passed a lot of physicals to be in Starfleet. If not, they may have a futuristic drug that that enforces compatibility. Or maybe her genetic modifications make her a universal recipient.

I just knew his porn star mustache had trouble written all over it. It shaved his life

Maybe that's why he left Starfleet, to become a Porn Star.

[scottydog]

Poor Geordi. I hope he has a nice wife or girlfriend in Picard Season Three.

Yes, and I'm kind of hoping his partner is a character we know, like Jadzia Dax, B'Elanna Torres, or Sophia Loren plucked into the 23rd century by mysterious forces.

I thought she was a human who was genetically engineered by Illyrians-- she must have passed a lot of physicals to be in Starfleet. If not, they may have a futuristic drug that that enforces compatibility. Or maybe her genetic modifications make her a universal recipient.

Yes, I believe you're correct that her blood was human enough, or convertable enough, for this nitpick to be negated.

[RJDiogenes]

Yes, and I'm kind of hoping his partner is a character we know, like Jadzia Dax, B'Elanna Torres, or Sophia Loren plucked into the 23rd century by mysterious forces.

Jadzia's dead, B'Elanna is with Tom, and Sophia Loren doesn't exist in the Discoveryverse-- that's where it all started to go wrong for them. But he could be with Beverly, which would explain why Picard is using a different doctor. It would be nice if he finally got together with that Warp Physics specialist that he had a crush on. Or maybe he'll get together with Soji, because of the Data connection.

[scottydog]

^^ Soji would be most fitting and proper