Star Trek: Strange New Worlds -SPOILERS

[Gary]

I've seen snippets online that Carol Kane will be the CE in Season 2. This should be great!

Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. I think she's a great choice to play a Trek character.

Discovery isn't that great of a series, but the episodes where they interact with Pike & Co are good. They're one reason the fans demanded a Pike-centric series. Also, Disovery picks up a VERY surly engineer. She's one of the highlights of that show.

[scottydog]

Discovery isn't that great of a series, but the episodes where they interact with Pike & Co are good. They're one reason the fans demanded a Pike-centric series. Also, Disovery picks up a VERY surly engineer. She's one of the highlights of that show.

I agree. I actually liked mirror universe Captain Lorca in season 1 of Discovery -- as a villain, of course, not as a hero. And Anson Mount as Captain Pike was terrific in Discovery. Those were the days when he had more normal looking hair, but "Pike's Peak" is kind of growing on me -- figuratively, of course

And yes, the surly woman engineer has great banter with engineer Stamets and others. Discovery is a little too "woke" for me, as they have pretty much abolished all straight white males from the cast But I still enjoy watching it.

[RJDiogenes]

Discovery isn't that great of a series, but the episodes where they interact with Pike & Co are good.

I'd watch them, but I'm trying to forget that it exists.

Those were the days when he had more normal looking hair, but "Pike's Peak" is kind of growing on me -- figuratively, of course

You never know. The power of suggestion.

Discovery is a little too "woke" for me, as they have pretty much abolished all straight white males from the cast But I still enjoy watching it.

It was so brilliant of them to populate the show with everything but White males, and then make them all assholes. Good planning.

[Gary]

I could care less if there are no white males, etc. Give me some damned good stories with great character development and I'm there.

[RJDiogenes]

You're not likely to get any of that from the Woke Folk-- they're too busy beating their breasts and congratulating themselves on being holier than thou.

[scottydog]

I could care less if there are no white males, etc. Give me some damned good stories with great character development and I'm there.

You're right that good storytelling should come first.

You're not likely to get any of that from the Woke Folk-- they're too busy beating their breasts and congratulating themselves on being holier than thou.

Yeah, there's a little of this, too

[Gary]

Something I'd love to see in SNW is the automated repair station from S2E4 of Enterprise.

Automated Repair Station: Star Trek Bestiary

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, that would be good. There's a few things from Enterprise that it would be nice to see on SNW. There was also that ship that was draining fuel from a bunch of alien corpses-- or something like that. It would also be nice to see some tie ins to TOS, like first contact with Stratos.

[scottydog]

[RJDiogenes]

Groovy and groovy. That means we'll have at least thirty episodes. I hope they can keep up the grooviness.

[Gary]

I knew the series had been renewed for a third season. I didn't know when S2 would premiere. This is great news.

[RJDiogenes]

The season two trailer is live. I started a new thread.

[Lupine]

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.
Now for the individual episodes:
I’ll skip the first one as I already did a review of it.

Children of the Comet:
A classic Trek plot though a tad lightweight. It’s mostly about Cadet Uhura and her- albeit understandable- insecurities. The light hazing she gets from the other crew doesn’t help. The comet/ship reminded me a bit of the one from TNG “Masks” but this one seems to have precognitive abilities.

Ghosts of Illyria:
This one is hands down the best of the season and one of the best Trek stories I’ve seen in years. Bonus points for an episode title with a double meaning. This was a topical episode in the tradition of classic Trek covering discrimination and the current fretting over GMOs. 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. Making Number 1 an alien was a questionable choice considering her role in “The Cage” (the Talosians wouldn’t have picked her to breed with Pike if she wasn’t human).

Memento Mori:
I almost skipped this one as the one thing I don’t like about SNW is how the reimagined the Gorn. But this was a suspenseful episode that some have called a “submarine” plot. Not overly original, especially for Trek, but it was handled well without many of the pitfalls. The suspense wasn’t borne by the crew doing stupid things (mostly) but that the Gorn were just being a little smarter. There are nitpicks that could be made but it was a good episode nonetheless.

Spock Amok:
Basically a filler episode with a rather silly body-swap plot. Granted it was handled better than most. Unfortunately it did distract from what should have been the A-plot with the empathic aliens and the negotiations.

Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach:
Perhaps the most like TOS if they had the budget. I thought the crew were a little slow on the uptake in this one with the aliens acting cagey right out of the gate. I did like how the episode’s “villains” turned out of the, in their own way, far more admirable than the main aliens- willing to live in squalor rather than participate in what is in all reality a system borne up by child sacrifice. Not a bad episode even if I would have liked the crew to have been more suspicious.

The Serine Squall:
Not one of my favorites as it was annoying to watch the crew of the Enterprise walking into one obvious trap after another. The idea of a ridiculously romantic pirate was interesting but her plan never would have worked if anyone on the ship had had a half of a brain in the their heads. The appearance (sort of) of Sybok was an interesting twist, but I fear that if he turns up again he’ll be just another bad guy rather than the generally good but misguided character we’d seen in ST:5.

The Elysian Kingdom:
A fun episode that the cast was clearly having a blast with. 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.

All Those Who Wander:
At first viewing the worst of the season with a plot that rips off both Alien and Aliens- and does neither well. It would have been better if they had come up with new aliens rather than the Gorn as these are nothing like what we’d seen in “Arena”. Making things even worse is that the never think of using the obvious solution: the Gorn are cold-blooded, just turn off the heat and wait. And why do exothermic creatures grow so fast anyway? Killing off Hemmer was also not a good idea as it wasted a season’s worth of character development.

A Quality of Mercy:
But no, this turns out to be the worst of the season. Except for setting up the cliff-hanger of Number 1’s arrest, there was no reason for this episode to exist. I don’t buy that Pike’s future is un-avoidable despite what he’s shown about the future. Pike could save the crew and simply resigned. Sent Spock off somewhere else. Set up an ambush for the Romulans. The plot as it is comes off as fatalistic and not very Trek-like.

[RJDiogenes]

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's exactly what I was thinking. This would have made a great Captain Rios series, bringing back the aesthetics of classic Trek to the 25th century-- and they could have created an accurate Pike series at the same time with chump change. That would have made pretty much everybody happy.

The light hazing she gets from the other crew doesn’t help.

I kind of like the way they handle the crew interactions. Nice and casual and friendly, so the drama has more impact when they get to it.

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.

Making Number 1 an alien was a questionable choice considering her role in “The Cage” (the Talosians wouldn’t have picked her to breed with Pike if she wasn’t human).

Good point. I didn't even think about that. Although all humanoids in Trek can seemingly interbreed anyway.

I almost skipped this one as the one thing I don’t like about SNW is how the reimagined the Gorn.

Same here, but since this is an alternate universe it doesn't bother me much. Also, we can always imagine that the Gorn that Kirk fought was elderly and senile.

Basically a filler episode with a rather silly body-swap plot.

This one emphasized one of the biggest weaknesses of SNW-- they write Vulcans really badly.

Perhaps the most like TOS if they had the budget.

Yeah, this was a good one that really showed the depth of Pike's character.

The appearance (sort of) of Sybok was an interesting twist, but I fear that if he turns up again he’ll be just another bad guy rather than the generally good but misguided character we’d seen in ST:5.

Hard to say, given how they write Vulcans. But, again, it's an alternate universe so I'm keeping an open mind.

A fun episode that the cast was clearly having a blast with.

Talk about a crazy-ass TOS-style episode.

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.

Killing off Hemmer was also not a good idea as it wasted a season’s worth of character development.

Yes, killing off Hemmer was definitely the low point of the season. Especially since, as you say, they didn't think it through. Hemmer thrives in the cold that kills the Gorn-- all he had to do was stay outside for a while. He didn't have to jump.

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.

[scottydog]

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.