Strange New Worlds (spoilers)

[bilateralrope]

4 episodes into the season and we have two episodes that feel like someone decided that nostalgia was more important than interesting plots. Even when that nostalgia relies on things that don't exist in the timeline yet. Worse still, they directly lift plot points:
- Trelane being stopped by a sudden parental appearance. Though Kirk did work out he was a child just before that happened.
- La'an/Data asking for a mystery that would challenge their skills, and the computer giving them exactly that, being the cause of the holodeck malfunction.

That or these were the best ideas the writers had for getting Spock's love life to where somebody wanted it. Are there any viewers who want to see Spock's love life ?


The zombie episode was mostly fun. With Ortegas' insubordination possibly being a result of her PTSD. So that might go somewhere interesting. Especially since I've seen an article with the showrunners saying that they are planning to have the crew be the TOS crew by the time the show ends. Oh and it's ending with a half length season 5.

[Crazedwraith]

Yeah I noticed the rip off "Elementary Dear Data" as well.

I suspect yes some of the watchers are interested in Spock's love life. Though they probably just want him to be with Kirk. Shippers gonna ship.

Especially since I've seen an article with the showrunners saying that they are planning to have the crew be the TOS crew by the time the show ends.

They are pitching a Sequel Series for Kirk, no joke.

[bilateralrope]

They are pitching a Sequel Series for Kirk, no joke.

I would have been a lot more favourable to that idea at any point before the latest episode. With some oversight to prevent them ripping plots from Trek episodes to blatantly, it might work.

Unless there is meddling from the Trump administration.

[bilateralrope]

Dr Korby's jacket leaves me with questions.


Oh and if anyone ever expects me to cross some invisible bridge, I'd first kneel down and try to put my hand on it.

[Crazedwraith]

Where would be the drama in that? Leap of Faith.

I thought this was a bit stronger. Still weighed down by the ongoing stuff. Yay more Spock emotional drama. *eyeroll* They were at least exploring and Pelia hasn't been entirely replace by scotty.

I thought that the start they were ingratiating us with Gamble to make it hurt more when they killed him off and they were. *sigh* Be nice to see the rest of the Landing Party's reaction as well as M'Benga's.

The dangers of prequels is inconsistency, that they seem to be sure they could regenerate Gamble's eyes and have fixed Ortegas' digested hand but limb regeneration didn't seem to be a think in TNG era from Nog's leg. It's not a big deal but I noticed.

The other thing was the big blow up between Spock and the others about checking in. It later became important kind of but at the stage there's seem to be no reason walking outside for five minutes would have been an issue, he wasn't suggesting cancelling the mission or anything like that.

Another nitpick: They could have shown Gamble zapped with a phaser stun and resisting it at some stage. Everyone always forgets they have stun guns in hostage situations/where people they don't want to kill are acting out.

[bilateralrope]

The dangers of prequels is inconsistency, that they seem to be sure they could regenerate Gamble's eyes and have fixed Ortegas' digested hand but limb regeneration didn't seem to be a think in TNG era from Nog's leg. It's not a big deal but I noticed.

It could be a matter of species. With the Federation knowing a lot more about treating humans than ferengi.

Remember the episode where Nelix had his lungs stolen ?
The dialog there at least implied that Voyager could produce replacement lungs for any of the crew. But talaxian physiology was more complicated.

[Crazedwraith]

So I was away when 3x6 came out and given I was feeling pretty unhappy with the first half of the series it's taken me this long to get caught up. Reviews for episodes 6 and 7.


3x6 The Sehlet That Ate Its Tale

Now, I'm not sure if my on going disillusionment with SNW is causing me to underrate this or whether it didn't click with me.

But… I didn't need a Kirk episode. Sure, it's Kirk on the Farragut and the weirdness is getting the Ent crew to him rather than him going to the Enterprise.

It's a reasonably adept tale. Kirk learns about command, everyone else gets some action-adventure to play with. We learn the Enterprise has… no hardlines at all? That one was a little weird.

There's a twist, Pike and Kirk muse about morality. End credits.

It's fine. I just want SNW to be it's own thing and not a TOS prequel. This one epecially. Bascially all the TOS crew know Pike now, here Kirk's getting Captain lessons for him but in Menagerie they'll be like all 'Spock, who's this beepy chair guy and why do you care?'. Ugh.

I did like that they have Kirk muse why it should matter more to him that they're human but the whole twist does revolved around that it does.

Finally, a good point. I don't know if it was just me imagining or if there was some subtly acting between Kirk, La'An, Spock. That Kirk was close to her but that's slight awkward because she's with spock. Luckily the episode didn't make the tension explicit once again. So kudos to it for that.



3x7 What is starfleet?

Other shows have done episodes like this before but it's a new one for Trek I think. I'm not sure how I feel on it. They have Beto ask all these deep searching questions but the Enterprise is on apparently unprecedentedly dodgy mission to make it work.

A minor nitpick: Those Stats for the Connies are not the ones that used to be put about for TOS that I recall.

I just have a hard time believing it when Beto tries to say there's no difference between the Federation and the Empire. I know it's been said before and there's the whole soft power Root Beer thing in DS9 but that had at least some… subtlety to it.

The same lack of subtlety in Uhura just monologuing Beto's issues to him.

Did they think they said… *something* here? That answer… was not an answer at all. It was sentimental tripe.

[bilateralrope]

The Sehlet That Ate Its Tale

If it wasn't for the twist, this episode would be one that I enjoyed but didn't have much to say about. But that twist is something that kept popping back into my head for me to think about. Mainly questions about if these scavengers had encountered humans before and why they chose to keep going. Questions I doubt we will ever get answered.

Some worry that they would be proto-Borg when they were immune to phasers.


What is starfleet?
Without the documentary framing, there isn't much to the plot here. The only disagreement among the crew was some hesitation in helping a world that had previously worked with the klingons.

The only interesting part is that Starfleet saw this documentary created by someone who has personal reasons to be biased against them. Then Starfleet declassified things to allow it to be released.

[Crazedwraith]

^ I guess they did that because he was convinced and changed his tune by the end of the documentary? He didn't re-edit the early bits to be a bit of hit job though. if we're supposed to be seeing the final result.

---
3x8: Four and a half vulcans.

Okay, so this was the designated vulcan-farce comedy episode of the season. I think the Trelane episode was that for this year but apparently not. Four crew members get transformed by technobabble into Vulcan because Contrived Hand Wave.

Even weirder, this also gives them the control, logic skills and attitudes of grown vulcans, despite them not being genetic but learned. Or possibly they become what Spock things adult Vulcans are like, it's really not clear. Though silver lining, they do acknowledge vulcans have strong powerful emotions that they are always controlling, and they kinda say this is why Vulcans are jerks?

Anyway, they initially think it's unethical to force them to transform back despite the fact that their personalities are radically altered and compromised. Pike puts the ship on an insanely convoluted schedule and argues against Batel returning to work. Chapel breaks up all her relationships to focus solely on work. Uhura alters Beto personality via mind meld, and La'an because of her augment dna is more of a proto-romulan tries to take over the ship only to be stopped by scotty (and *sigh* James Kirk)

They contact a katra expert that is an ex-flame of Number One she's gaga about to revert them. La'an takes a little more convincing. The end.

Lots of this stuff happens off-screen, including the mind meld, and Pike, Chapel and Uhura being return to normal which gives the episode a very disjointed feeling.

Basically it depends whether you find people acting like bad imitation Vulcans funny or not and I just didn't.


I don't like banging the 'this isn't star trek' drum but it's a consistent problem that it's supposed to be about exploration, the understanding of other cultures and acceptance but they constantly turn one of their most famous species and their attitudes into a punchline.

I think it was Star trek reviewer SFDebris who said you don't get how hard it is do a good Vulcan until you see it done badly. (and I think Wil Wheaton has said the same about androids like Data) And yeah, Mount was not doing a good job, but maybe that's what's the script was going for? Ugh. I don't know.

I feel like when you've had to knock her out for Mutiny, they'd be fully justified in treating La'an without her consent.

I'm strongly reminded how much I like Ma'jel in Season 2 prodigy, who is a Vulcan who neither an asshole or a cultural rebel like T'Lyn.