Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) - Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Jason_V]

I agree, to a point. We all want these new versions of Star Trek to succeed, and I believe it's important to include younger people in the fan base. Ergo we get a cadet as Number One on Star Trek Discovery and Ortega and others being flippant.

Same reason we got Chekov in TOS. Same reason, among others, we got Wesley in TNG. Same reason Jake and Nog had adventures in DS9. This is not a new phenomenon.

Heck, same reason we got Cousin Oliver in The Brady Bunch.

 

[Chris Will]

I love Ortega. She's one of my favorite characters on the show because of her snarky comments. I imagine me being the snarky officer as well. I don't think she got to her position by being dumb and she's comfortable enough with Pike to bring the snark. I think it is another example of what kind of relationship Pike has with his officers and crew. He is a more laid back, "down to Earth" captain. He has brought the snark a few times as well.

 

[Walter Kittel]

He has brought the snark a few times as well.

After Pike's 'pirate routine' at the end of episode 7, he is going to be okay with some snark.

- Walter.

 

[GlennC]

Episode 8 is a unique episode of Star Trek. It’s the first one I’ve ever turned off..

 

[Chris Will]

I haven't watched it yet but, there are some really bad episodes throughout the history of Trek and I haven't turned one off yet.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I haven't watched it yet but, there are some really bad episodes throughout the history of Trek and I haven't turned one off yet.

Yeah, this one may not make anyone’s top ten list but it’s no Code of Honor.

It’s sort of Shore Leave meets Penpals.

 

[David Weicker]

Yeah, this one may not make anyone’s top ten list but it’s no Code of Honor.

It’s sort of Shore Leave meets Penpals.

I had a bit of Bride Of Chaotica vibe myself.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I had a bit of Bride Of Chaotica vibe myself.

Ooo good call!

 

[GlennC]

I enjoyed Bride of Chaoitica

 

[David Weicker]

I enjoyed Bride of Chaoitica

I do too.

I meant my comparison in a very complimentary way.

 

[Walter Kittel]

S01E08 - The Elysian Kingdom

I went into this episode with favorable expectations; as I stated before, I tend to enjoy the various Trek episodes that go outside the norms. I did enjoy some of the 'cast against type' choices the episode made with a cowardly Sir Rauth (Pike) and a diva Princess (Singh). It was also nice to see Ethan Peck step outside of his Spock role. The costuming and overall production design contributed a lot of visual appeal to the episode. ( Particularly liked Cadet Uhura's gown and accoutrements. I think you will be seeing that attire at conventions in the future. )

The real meat of the story was the relationship between Dr. M'Benga and his daughter Rukiya. (Our M'Benga centric episode for season one, BTW. Babs Olusanmokun was certainly up to the task and turned in a fine performance in this episode.) The parallel between the choice that the King in the storybook has to make vs. M'Benga's decision in the real world was nicely rendered and was emotionally resonant. I was honestly surprised by some of the choices that were made with Rukiya in this episode and I do wonder if real world factors drove the narrative of this episode. (?)

Random thoughts...

It was interesting to see Hemmer broach the topic of the Boltzmann Brain. I've been casually delving into physics and cosmology a bit of late so this was an interesting turn for the storyline.

I liked the idea that two of the most technically capable individuals aboard the Enterprise were consigned to the roles of wizards. In Greek mythology Castor and Pollux were brothers who sailed with Jason aboard the Argo. I am not sure if there is supposed to be a deeper connection between the two mythological sources.

- Walter.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I grew wary of these type of stories onnTNG it mostly bored me . With only 10 episodes in a season I would have rather something with real world consequences

 

[Harry-N]

That was my feeling as well. With just 10 episodes, it's way too early to delve into "something different". The only positive is that we've pretty much ended the Rukiya story on a positive note.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Episode 8 is a unique episode of Star Trek. It’s the first one I’ve ever turned off..

That's a shame, because most of the episode's meat doesn't come until the final act.

I did enjoy some of the 'cast against type' choices the episode made with a cowardly Sir Rauth (Pike) and a diva Princess (Singh).

Yeah, the cast getting to play against type was the source of most of the episode's fun. Apparently the princess's dog was Christina Chong's real dog, too.

The costuming and overall production design contributed a lot of visual appeal to the episode.

What I liked was that there was no real attempt to hide the artifice of the scenario. Even in rooms with forests, you could see the real starship underneath. And the starship itself was still functioning normally, so the two characters that could remember the truth could use the systems normally.

The real meat of the story was the relationship between Dr. M'Benga and his daughter Rukiya. (Our M'Benga centric episode for season one, BTW. Babs Olusanmokun was certainly up to the task and turned in a fine performance in this episode.) The parallel between the choice that the King in the storybook has to make vs. M'Benga's decision in the real world was nicely rendered and was emotionally resonant. I was honestly surprised by some of the choices that were made with Rukiya in this episode and I do wonder if real world factors drove the narrative of this episode. (?)

What I appreciated was the bittersweet nature of that resolution; M'Benga was able to save his daughter and give her a full life free of illness. But the cost of doing so was losing her from his own life, and not getting to see her grow up. He truly put her needs ahead of his own.

I grew wary of these type of stories onnTNG it mostly bored me . With only 10 episodes in a season I would have rather something with real world consequences

I'm definitely glad that there aren't holodecks during this era of Trek, since that conceit got way overused during the TNG era. But this episode definitely did have real world consequences, changing M'Benga's life forever.

That was my feeling as well. With just 10 episodes, it's way too early to delve into "something different". The only positive is that we've pretty much ended the Rukiya story on a positive note.

Positive for her. Kind of heartbreaking for M'Benga.

Also interesting: This episode confirmed M'Benga's canonical first name as "Joseph". The promotional posters before the series debuted gave his first name as "Jabilo". If his poster was wrong, we can probably also dismiss Spock's first name from his poster as well.

 

[Sam Favate]

It was a fun, albeit slight, episode. The crew playing different roles got tiresome, but the concentration on M’Benga was nice, especially since he’s always so serious.

One thing though: This is an episode that would never be tried on Discovery.

 

[joshEH]

^ I’d hardly call this episode “slight” — the emotional gutpunch at the very end was huge, and likely to play a major role down the road for Dr. M’Benga’s character development.

 

[Greg.K]

It was a fun, albeit slight, episode. The crew playing different roles got tiresome, but the concentration on M’Benga was nice, especially since he’s always so serious.

One thing though: This is an episode that would never be tried on Discovery.

When you get down to it, the "crew playing different roles" thing was done pretty extensively in Discovery's mirror universe episodes.

 

[joshEH]

Anyone else catch the author's name of Rukiya's YA-novel...??

 

[joshEH]

Also...Serious La'an has a doggie? No way. Lies. I bet her crew-quarters has a trap. If anyone tries to enter it, they get stunned and teleported to a cargo bay. Only way to keep her deep, dark secret.

 

[Nelson Au]

“Hitting it, sir.“

I wasn’t sure what to expect in this episode. I’d only seen one photo with the M’Benga in costume so I knew something different was coming. I laughed when we saw La’an as the princess. She was a hoot. Really over the top and I can see she had fun. Same with Ortega, her alternative swashbuckling character was super fun. I kept expecting to see Una as the evil queen. But Uhura was a great choice. Making Pike as the cowardly Dr. Smith type was quite a turn, Anson Mount appears to be having fun too. The teaming of M’Benga and Hemmer was fun too as we get to see Hemmer contribute well to the story. M’Benga was a center of this story and I figured it was Rukiya who was controlling this fantasy. But we learned it was really the alien life form in the nebula. The last act was definitely bittersweet. I really didn’t expect M’Benga could let Rukiya go after working so hard to try to find a cure. But he realized this was better for her and made that choice.

I agree there are so precious few episodes in the season to do such a non conforming episode. But after seeing it, it does follow the mission goals of seeking out new life. It just did it in a very different way. It was a Inner Light episode.