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

[Jason_V]

I actually think "Children of the Comet" is a great episode. It checked all of the boxes for me. But I'm a sucker for stories that explore religion through a science fiction lens.

My main criticism is the comet story. It seems like every single comet scene deals with Spock telling Uhura how many people want the posting on the Enterprise and that she's the expert so act like. We got that scene on the Enterprise, we get it multiple times through the show. (La'an also seems gruffer than normal, which doesn't help me like the episode any more.)

I know it takes forever for things to sink in for some people...but that got repetitive very fast.

 

[Alex...]

 

[David Weicker]

My main criticism is the comet story. It seems like every single comet scene deals with Spock telling Uhura how many people want the posting on the Enterprise and that she's the expert so act like. We got that scene on the Enterprise, we get it multiple times through the show. (La'an also seems gruffer than normal, which doesn't help me like the episode any more.)

I know it takes forever for things to sink in for some people...but that got repetitive very fast.

Apparently you don’t remember talking to your parents about choosing a college, choosing a major, what you were going to do with your life, when you were going to get married, when you were going to have kids, etc.

Repetitiveness was the most realistic part.

 

[Jason_V]

Apparently you don’t remember talking to your parents about choosing a college, choosing a major, what you were going to do with your life, when you were going to get married, when you were going to have kids, etc.

Repetitiveness was the most realistic part.

I decided to go into Journalism while my father wanted me to be an Accountant, which he pushed and pushed and pushed. (The irony is my job is more numbers focused than words focused.) We had high level conversations about college's and money and things, but no...he did not beat messages into me like we see in this episode.

I certainly did not ask their opinion on any of the paths in my life.

My parents did not meet my now-husband at any point prior to me proposing to him. In fact, my father met him for the first time on the day we got married about two weeks ago. So, no, I didn't ask their opinion on getting married or anything like that. They had zero input, zero say and zero opinions. (Kids is not an option for us.)

With your analogy, the difference is my parents are my parents and had a right to speak to me in these ways. Spock is not Uhura's parent.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I thoroughly enjoy every episode, except the one where the entire crew dress up in medieval costumes and are part of a children's book. (Children of The Comet). I find this so embarrassingly stupid that it is hard to watch. I really tried to give it a second chance, but wow! Even the cast doesn't appear to be enjoying themselves.

That one is actually "The Elysian Kingdom". It was my least favorite of the season when I watched the first time as the episodes dropped on Paramount+ (CBS All Access? Whatever the hell it was back then!) and it's my least favorite of the episodes I've revisited so far on 4K UHD disc.

It feels halfway between a holodeck episode from TNG and one of those original series episodes where they ran out of money so they built a story around the costumes and props of a pilot that didn't get picked up.

There are some important nuances; unlike the original series, they didn't have to go to a random planet to play dress-up. And unlike the holodeck, the changes to the environment are very superficial. The ship is still visible under the vines and costumes and accoutrement. The Enterprise's life support systems are still keeping everybody alive. The entity in the nebula only changed what was necessary to bring Rukiya's game of make believe to life.

It's telling that the episode was co-written by Akela Cooper, a screenwriter mostly known for horror pictures: Hell Fest, Malignant, M3GAN. When you look at what happened in this episode objectively, it's a horror story: An alien intelligence hijacked the bodies and minds of a couple hundred people for a child's amusement. The price to free them is the protagonist of the episode's daughter.

On the plus side, Queen Neve, Princess Thalia, and Lady Audrey all offered up some cleavage that does the titillation of the original series proud.

My first time through, I thought the characters were selected to speak to some aspect the host body's personality, either in alignment with or in contrast to. But this time, it's clear to me that the choices were entirely superficial. The entity went with the crew members who most closely resembled the illustrations in Rukiya's picture book.

Making Benny Russell the author of the book was a provocative choice. As far as I know, it's the first time the character has been confirmed to actually exist outside of Sisko's visions. And it raises all sorts of questions about how literally the visions of "Far Beyond the Stars" should be taken. Did Russell really prophesize the events of DS9? If so, did the Prophets give him the inspiration/foreknowledge? And did those stories survive the destruction and confusion of World War III? The fact that the book was written by Russell also explains why the hero and main villain are both black. If Benny Russell wrote a fantasy book for children, it would definitely challenge the Eurocentric bias of the genre.

Setting the fairy tale aside, what saves the episode for me is the final act, where M'Benga is forced to make an impossible choice for a parent: Keep his daughter close, even though it would likely result in her death, or keep his daughter safe, even though it would mean leaving her behind and missing out on seeing her grow up. Like any good parent, M'Benga priorities the needs and welfare of his child over his own desires. But it's just agonizing, and gives real weight to an episode that would otherwise feel entirely frivolous.

While the episode obviously centered around M'Benga and did a lot to flesh him out, it was an important Hemmer episode too. It's the first time we get to see his playful side. By the end of the game, he's actually having fun.

I remember him having a bigger role in the season, but this is actually only the second Hemmer-centric episode after "Memento Mori". He wasn't in the pilot at all, and he was only sprinkled in here and there in the other episodes. Considering what happens in the next episode, this episode had to do a lot of heavy lifting to make us care about him.

 

[Nelson Au]

Adam, it’s been a super busy week at work so I didn’t get a chance to reply to your comments about my comments for The Serene Squal. Two things you said I totally missed.

Regarding Pike being more playful in this episode, you’re right about his being teased as a Boy Scout. I totally forgot that exchange at the start of the episode. I really remember it more from Discovery when Admiral Cornwell told Pike he represents all that is best about humanity and they wanted to keep him out of the battle.

In regards to Dr. Aspen being a non binary character, I totally missed that. It did not even occur to me.

Overall, on my re-view of that episode, I did enjoy it more and thought about the repercussions of what they tell about Spock and Chapel. And a side note, I agree the actress playing Chapel is doing a very good job of bringing her alive. She is given far more to work with then Majel Barrett had. There’s also a make-up and hair aspect I’ve been meaning to mention. Jess Bush’s original publicity photos of her prior to the series premiere made her look a lot like Denise Crosby as Tasha. But when she is made up as Chapel, my initial impression was she was definitely not Majel. But there was something going on that was Majel. That was her hair color. It’s got a silver-ish color with dark gray/black streaks. This is how her hair looks in The Naked Time.

So last night, I watched The Naked Time. I haven’t seen it in a while as it’s such a good episode, I limit my viewings so I can enjoy it the more. And I did really enjoy it. I was transported back to when I was 14-ish when it was the first time I began to understadn what was going on and was really absorbed into the episode. it was also striking to me on a couple of levels. The cast was in their prime and after seeing the cast in recent years, they look so young here, especially George Takei. The acting here is really top level for the entire cast. And this episode is so telling of the series. They got away with so much on so little. They used their imaginations and created a world with table mat material for environmental suits. They did not have to show the Enterprise in orbit as it decayed and the hull wasn’t shown glowing red from the heat. It was all in my head! This episode just worked so well. Spock was able to fight off the virus. But how did Kirk and Spock avoid getting the virus when they grabbed Sulu while he was wielding the sword on the bridge? Even Uhura avoided it. Ha, ha, just a little joke I like to ask myself.

Watching The Naked Time just felt like the right thing to do after seeing The Serene Squal. I do now feel like I must see Tomorrow is Yesterday as the continuation of The Naked Time.

I did watch The Elysian Kingdom earlier. But I was super tired from work. I’ll try to post about it later.

 

[Sam Favate]

Watched episodes 2 and 3 and they’re terrific. Episode 3, in particular, is great and gives Una a lot of do, something the rest of the season does not. This show is really a successor to TNG (episodic, good storytelling).

 

[Jason_V]

A lot (maybe all?) of the S1 episodes are on YouTube for free on the Paramount Plus channel.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Watched "All Those Who Wander" tonight. It's probably my favorite episode of the season. Yes, it borrows heavily from Alien. But, hey, if you're going to steal, steal from the best.

Except for Number One and Lt. Ortegas, who are off on the Enterprise's other high priority mission for most of the episode, all of the main characters are well serviced.

Cadet Uhura is coming to the end of her space duty aboard the Enterprise and returning to Earth to wrap up her time at Starfleet Academy. Upon graduation, she'll be commissioned as an ensign. But like many soon-to-be college graduates, she has no idea what she wants to do with her life. A lot of that uncertainty in Uhura's case is the result of losing her parents in such a sudden and traumatic way. The events of this episode force her to confront those feelings and move forward.

It's no coincidence that Oriana, the little girl who is ultimately the sole survivor of the wreck of the USS Peregrine, is of mixed Asian ancestry, nor that she's roughly the same age as M'Benga's daughter. Lt. Noonien-Singh sees herself in Oriana, see her own traumatic childhood. And M'Benga sees his daughter in Oriana. He couldn't heal his daughter, but he's going to damn well do whatever he can for this girl.

Oriana has been missing for two years, so she's survived the Gorn for a very long time at this point. Both the writing and Emma Ho's performance sell that. "Buckley" is the only friend Oriana has left when the episode begins. But once she sees that he's about to hatch, she quietly abandons him and retreats to safety. Like La'an, her childhood has taught her some brutal lessons. And like La'an, she was smart enough to learn them quickly enough to stay alive.

The farewell meal that kicks off the episode celebrates Ensign Duke's promotions to lieutenant, and the completion of space duty for Cadets Chia and Uhura. Once it becomes clear that this is a horror episodes, it's obvious that both Duke and Chia will get redshirted. But their deaths, which are both a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, lull the audience into a false sense of security. So when it becomes clear that Hemmer is going to die, it feels genuinely shocking.

A terrific sendoff episode for Hemmer. Bruce Horak is incredible during Hemmer's farewell speech. You see at that point how much his relatively brief time aboard the Enterprise has warmed his prickly nature.

It also furthers the relationship between Chapel and Spock. Spock is forced to be vulnerable in this episode, and Chapel is there to be a shoulder to lean on. It's a great episode for their platonic friendship, while also helping the audience understand how she could fall for someone who isn't going to love her back in that way.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Began the evening watching the original series episode "Balance of Terror", helpfully provided as a special feature on the final SNW UHD disc. I'm not sure if it's genuinely a 4K version of the episode or an upscale of the HD version made available for syndication and on Blu-ray. But all of the visual effects are the CG replacements from the HD versions. The color feels off, too, with the gold command uniforms a bit closer to the green color that they actually were on set. If the filmed elements were in 4K, there wasn't much in the way of new information to be gleaned from the additional resolution. There's almost a thinness to the color information the picture, like when a small photograph is blown up too big. But the contrast and sharpness are strong and the picture is free of blemishes. And the episode just plain works. Mark Lenard's nameless Romulan Commander makes for a great adversary against Kirk. He's a really strong captain, who has the misfortune of working for a bunch of bloodthirsty glory seeking assholes who only understand strength and power.

Heading from that episode straight into the first season finale, "A Quality of Mercy", helped me to better appreciate the differences between them. "Balance of Terror" is a submarine episode, but we already had one of those this season with "Memento Mori". So instead we get a conflict of philosophies. Pike the diplomat advocates for speaking softly; Kirk the Warrior advocates for carrying a big stick.

Just as Pike is a different captain than Kirk, Matthew MacFadzean's unnamed Romulan Commander is a different captain than Mark Lenard's nameless Romulan Commander. In both cases, they are the wrong men for the job. Pike doesn't understand his enemy. MacFadzean's commander can't keep control of his own subordinates. They seek peace as a means for strength. But this is a moment where strength is necessary for peace. In this case, the Romulans are all Northerners with the forehead ridges, presumably to differentiate them from the ship that faced off against Kirk in "Balance of Terror". But it works against the dramatic intent, because the Northern Romulans aren't indistinguishable from Vulcans the way the Southern Romulans are.

I still really dislike them bringing in James T. Kirk. If "Strange New Worlds" was the first Star Trek series and the original series never existed, I would have said that Paul Wesley was terrific as in the role -- the cocky young starship captain with the genius to back it up. He makes acting choices that are perfectly in keeping with the character as written. But the original series does exist, and I don't believe that this is the same man that William Shatner played for decades. Chris Pine also plays an alternate timeline version of Captain Kirk, but he captures something of the essence of Shatner's performance that Wesley here doesn't. Nor does it help that Wesley doesn't really look anything like William Shatner did in 1966.

One thing that I don't think I fully appreciated when I originally watched the episode is that Rear Admiral Pike from the alternate timeline has knowledge of the events of "Unification I" and "Unification II" and their aftermath. My original interpretation was that Future Pike wanted to save Spock not simply because he is his friend and would feel terrible that he condemned Spock to a terrible fate that was destined for him. But it's clearly more than that. He knows that Spock is destined for great things, and any alteration to the timeline that allows calamity to befall him prevents those great things from coming to pass. Even in the Kelvin timeline, Prime Spock understood how important it was that Spock serve under Captain Kirk aboard the Enterprise. They'll save the galaxy together several times over in both timelines, but more importantly Spock's experiences on that ship with that crew will shape the man he becomes, and it is that man who can begin to heal the rift between the Vulcans and the Romulans.

Even though it's the SNW Enterprise instead of the TOS Enterprise in this episode, there are lots of fun touches here. First and foremost, many lines of dialogue are lifted right from Paul Schneider's teleplay for "Balance of Terror". But there are little things too: camera angles that are matched, Uhura wearing the same earrings that she did in "Balance of Terror", the same red alert message that interrupts the wedding ceremony, And of course Scotty's audio only cameo.

The rank insignia confused me. In 2259, lieutenants have one wide stripe and one skinny stripe on their sleeves, commanders have two wide stripes, and captains have two wide stripes with a skinny stripe in the middle, with the color of the stripes matching the color of the division. In this alternate 2266, the rank stripes are gold on the uniforms for all three divisions, the way they were in TOS. Lt. Uhura has one wide stripe like she did in TOS. But Ortegas, who is referred to as lieutenant in the future, has one wide stripe and one skinny stripe, which would indicate what -- Lt. Commander? And Jenna Mitchell beside her has two wide stripes, which would seem to indicate a rank of full commander. Perhaps in the alternate 2266, Starfleet has adopted a TNG-style operations officer, and Mitchell got promoted into it?

Dangling story threads at the end of the finale:

• Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh has departed the Enterprise on approved leave with Oriana to try and find the girl's surviving family.
• Cadet Uhura is returning to Earth to finish out her time at Starfleet Academy. She still doesn't know what she wants to do with her life after graduating. Interestingly, one of the deleted scenes for "All Those Who Wander" had Uhura, inspired by Hemmer's dying words, requesting a posting aboard the Enterprise once she graduates, and Pike informing her about a vacancy at the communications station. But since that scene was cut, the writers are free to ignore it in Season 2.
• Number One has been removed from duty and placed under arrest for violating Federation rules about genetic modification and then lying to Starfleet about it. Her arresting officer was Captain Batel of the USS Cayuga, Christopher Pike's long-distance girlfriend.
• The Enterprise is in need of a new chief engineer after Hemmer's sacrifice.
• James T. Kirk has been put on Pike's radar as a career to watch.

 

[NeilO]

Haven't seen it yet, but now it is on YouTube.

You Can Now Watch the Entire First Season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for Free

Are you a big Star Trek: Strange New Worlds fan or even just SNW curious but don’t currently have a Paramount+ subscription? If so, I’ve got good news for you: The entire first season of Strange Ne…

www.tor.com

 

[Sam Favate]

I'm up to episode 6 in my season 1 rewatch on 4k. Last night was "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach" which really succeeds in bringing back the feel of the Original Series. The only issue I have with this one is that a society as advanced as this one should have a way to maintain their power supply without the sacrifice of a child. There is a deleted scene on the disc that shows Pike's meeting with Alora 10 years earlier. It's a good scene and it was obviously cut for time, but worth watching.

The previous episode, "Spock Amok," was billed as a comedy - and it is funny - but it's more than that. It's a very solid episode with a lot of good character moments. The Spock-Chapel friendship gets a lot of play here, and it's one of the most engaging aspects of the show. I do hope they find a way to reconcile this version of Chapel - who is adventurous, funny and even bold - with the more dour, sad, and (yes) meek version played by Majel Barrett.

The show is just terrific from top to bottom.

 

[Sam Favate]

Chapel's unrequited love for Spock really begins here, and the ending feels a bit tragic. And not just because we know Spock will never reciprocate Chapel's feelings. It's because Chapel is such a dynamic character here, and will be reduced to someone far less dynamic by the time of the original series. Jess Bush brings more to the character than Majel Barrett did, but she's also given far better material to work with. To somewhat offset the fact that Chapel is doomed to a lifetime of romantic frustration, the SNW writers are endeavoring to flesh out the other areas of her life: She loves her job and she's great at it, she has wonderful and fulfilling friendships with some of her crewmates, and she genuinely loves seeing the galaxy.

I was thinking about this, and while they never have a romantic relationship in the Original Series, we don't really know if they ever meet up later in life. We know very little about Chapel after TMP. She has a brief scene in ST IV, but that's it. We also know very little about Spock's personal life, other than that Picard says he attended Spock's wedding (TNG, "Sarek"), but given the timeline that could not have been to Chapel.

I doubt there is a way for SNW to showcase that period of their lives (unless they jump forward like they do in the season 1 finale), but just maybe she and Spock find a place in their lives for one another sometime in their later years. We never see her reaction to his death in ST II, or his "resurrection" in ST III. Maybe those stories reach her and she finds a way to track him down, sometime around ST V, VI or beyond. By the time we see Spock in TNG or the 2009 movie, Chapel is likely long dead.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

So, I was wondering why Hemmer was killed off. So I finally Googled and it was decided basically before they started shooting the season.

This may have been discussed before, but I missed it.

Why did Bruce Horak leave Star Trek: Strange New Worlds?

Why was Bruce Horak's Hemmer killed off in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds? Find out why the actor left the show before the season 1 finale.

geekspin.co

 

[Philip Verdieck]

<...> Maybe those stories reach her and she finds a way to track him down, sometime around ST V, VI or beyond. By the time we see Spock in TNG or the 2009 movie, Chapel is likely long dead.

Possibly, but I always thought McCoy had 20+ years on Chapel, and he was alive naturally in S1 of TNG.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

This episode just worked so well. Spock was able to fight off the virus. But how did Kirk and Spock avoid getting the virus when they grabbed Sulu while he was wielding the sword on the bridge? Even Uhura avoided it. Ha, ha, just a little joke I like to ask myself.

Kirk did get the virus, but he was also able to fight it off. He is under it when he is talking about how much his rank (and the ship) demands of him. McCoy hits him with the antidote, but Spock says it isn't really needed. (IIRC)

 

[jayembee]

I've finished re-watching S1 (from the UHD set). Some of the things that I didn't catch or consider the first time around...

"Strange New Worlds": It's implied that Pike really likes watching The Day the Earth Stood Still (Batel: "Again?") If he's that much of a fan, why would he watch it in the wrong aspect ratio?

"Spock Amok": I'd forgotten that they used the "Amok Time" musical cues during Spock's dream at the beginning. What surprised me, though, is that it seems to be a general "conflict cue", as it shows up in "Balance of Terror" as well (as I learned watching that episode in the extras on disc 3). Speaking of which, I think they should've included "Amok Time" as well.

"Life Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach": Still a powerful episode, but I'm still annoyed that there's no explicit acknowledgement of LeGuin's story. Even the long BTS doc in the extras skip over that episode completely (though, to be fair, they skip over some others as well). Similarly, I'm annoyed that Paul Schneider didn't get a credit for "A Quality of Mercy", given that a fair amount of the dialogue from "Balance of Terror" appears in AQoM.

(Side note: If I hadn't recently re-watched this episode, I probably wouldn't have recognized Lindy Booth, who plays Alora, as Duela Dent's mother in this week's episode of Gotham Knights. Side note to the side note: I still can't get over seeing "Wynonna Earp" as Pike's main squeeze, Batel.)

"The Elysian Kingdom": If for no other reason, I'd give this a thumbs-up just for the Una/Ortegas "Oh, we definitely know each other" bit. But I think I liked this one even more this time around.

"All Those Who Wander": Essentially Star Trek: Aliens, and a well-done pastiche of it to boot. I'm still not convinced that the Gorn as La'An describes them -- a race so brutal that they fight (and kill) each other for dominance right from birth -- would manage to become advanced enough to be a technological, space-faring species. But I'll let that go. It's still a bummer that they killed off Hemmer. I hope that we'll eventually find out more about Buckley's race.

"A Quality of Mercy": Still a top-notch episode. It's still seems confusing, though, to see Pike have a sit-down with future Kirk after future Pike vanishes. I'm not sure that the scene adds any value to the story. Interestingly enough, I noticed in the end titles that the "Bride" (Angela, in "Balance of Terror") was played by Megha Sandhu. I can't seem to find any information about whether she's related to Gia Sandhu (who plays T'Pring) other than that both are Canadian.

Feels like a long wait until the 15th, even though it's just a week.

 

[Sam Favate]

Watched The Serene Squall last night, which is a top notch episode, and a fun new villain in Jesse James Keitel. I look forward to seeing something else of Sybok - but not too much! By the time of ST V, Spock should not have seen him for 30 years. I like how Pike's persona has developed. He's kinda hip, knows when to use humor to his advantage, and manifests a family atmosphere by calling everyone by their first names. Kirk never did that; neither did Picard.

This episode has a good deal more of the Spock-Chapel romantic subplot. It's very engaging. However, if this is going to be the show's primary romance, it's going to be unsatisfying for the audience.

There are times when I can hear Leonard Nimoy's voice in Ethan Peck. That's high praise.

 

[Nelson Au]

Kirk did get the virus, but he was also able to fight it off. He is under it when he is talking about how much his rank (and the ship) demands of him. McCoy hits him with the antidote, but Spock says it isn't really needed. (IIRC)

Yes, Kirk did get the virus. I was thinking that in the earlier bridge scene with Kirk and Spock grab Sulu to take the sword and Spock gives him the nerve pinch, they both touch his skin. But they didn’t get the virus. It’s shown that later as Spock is looking for McCoy, he talks to Chapel and she takes his hand while under the influence of the virus. She transfer the virus at that point to Spock. Then later when Kirk is looking for Spock and finds him in the Briefing Room, Kirk slaps Spock to shake him from the virus effects. Then Spock hits Kirk. Kirk then angrily tells Spock we need a formula. ( for restarting the warp engines) Then Kirk says he’s got it. I‘ve always felt Kirk gets the virus at this point from his fight with Spock. So the earlier scene on the bridge was likely a little production flop, or Sulu wasn’t contagious anymore.

 

[Nelson Au]

I still have the last episode of season 1 to re-watch before the second season starts next week on the 15th. I’m looking forward to the new season.

I scanned over the articles on Trekmovie in the build-up to the new season. But I didn’t want to read them amd get too much info about it. I’m looking forward to seeing how the consequences for Una plays out and how Pike will continue to develop knowing his fate.

I did see the screen caps for the Lower Decks cross over. I’m not sure how that will work out considering Lower Decks takes place in the TNG era. Maybe it’s a holodeck story. It is nice they used the actors who do the voices for the live action.