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

[Harry-N]

I agree with all of the positive reviews the show is getting here and elsewhere. It's so refreshing to once again have a weekly STAR TREK with individual stories. It's been awhile since we've had that - perhaps the first two seasons of ENTERPRISE were the last time - maybe the fourth season, but even that had a bunch of story arcs.

As for Pike, we've already now seen him in many moods. If you count "The Cage", he was rather angry and down on himself at the start of that show and through the events of the episode found himself as he concluded it, somewhat comically, with "What are we running here, a cadet ship?"

Spoiler: Current shows

At the start of this season's first episode, he's again down knowing the events of the future and doesn't even want to take command. Cooking seems to be a hobby as he prepares breakfast for his guest. (He's on Earth and "riding out every day"!). But out of loyalty to Number One, he accepts the mission and takes charge.

In episode 2, he's again cooking and in a much lighter mood for much of that scene, though when alone with Number One, he's again projecting to his known future.

We all have mood changes, and the writing of the Pike character makes him seem real - and I agree, he's fast becoming my favorite Trek captain.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey Josh, the ensemble aspect of TOS is for sure there in the early episodes. For the last month or two, I’ve been re-watching the first season of TOS. Both George Takei and Nichelle Nichols really had a lot of involvement. As did Grace Lee Whitney. And Sulu was in command a few times too. It’s too bad they didn’t retain them more along with the increased trifecta effect.

 

[Sam Favate]

Comedy episode is coming:

‘Strange New Worlds’ Showrunner Teases Upcoming Comedy Episode: “Trek Can Be Funny”

We also have the new Robert April talking about Trek diversity, plus more SNW updates.

trekmovie.com

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

That is Kirk’s brother, who is referenced in the TOS episode Operation-Annihilate!

It's cruel-yet-hilarious that the character's main defining characteristic so far is the terrible fake mustache they stuck on William Shatner when he played Sam Kirk's corpse in "Operation-Annihilate!"

Them teasing the arrival of "Lt. Kirk" throughout the pilot, only for him to be revealed as Sam Kirk was a fun gag. But the downside is that it's another crew member whose fate is already determined. I knew he wouldn't die on the comet because he was destined to die at the Deneva colony in 2267.

I'm curious as to his family. His son Peter was in his early teens in 2267, which means he should be around kindergarten age now. So presumably Sam Kirk is already married to Aurelan at this point. I don't think families were allowed on this Enterprise like they were on the much larger Enterprise-D, so him taking this posting keeps him away from his family.

It works by sci-fi The “Enterprise” series went more into the mechanics of it but I can’t claim to remember every nuance of it.

They had never encountered the species protecting the asteroid before yet the translator worked. I think the basic idea is that a huge number of languages within the galaxy work in similar fashion to each other, and the more languages the translator has experienced/been programmed with, the better knowledge base it has. The translator is able to use its knowledge of a wide variety of similar languages to piece it together.

There was a line in this episode when the aliens introduced themselves and the translator used “shepherd” and Pike asked if that was accurate, and the ensign stated that that was how the translator was interpreting it.

Yes, and we've seen instances where there were hiccups because the language was too different from the languages already compiled by the translator. The Skrreeans, the matriarchal species from the Gamma Quadrant with the bumpy skin, is an example of this. None of the alpha quadrant languages had a similar syntax and grammatical structure, so it took a way for the universal translator to decipher it.

Just because the Shepherds were unknown to the crew of the Enterprise doesn't mean the Federation has never encountered their species's language. In fact, given their technology and mission statement, it would seem quite likely that they would have crossed paths with a Federation starship or planet at some point.

 

[Nelson Au]

Remember too that "The Cage" established that the ship only had 200-some-odd people aboard, as opposed to the 430 in Kirk's time. Maybe all the rooms were bigger at that point.

(Once Kirk took command, he evidently got rid of Pike's flying ski-chalet and made room for 200 more people. Though I'm surprised he didn't keep the fireplace…)

Pike’s quarters does feel a bit like a ski chalet with the fireplace!

About the size of the crew quarters and crew compliment, it’s not clear how large either is on this series yet. What I have a sneaking suspicion of is since this is a series with Kurtzman involved, the ship may not be the 947 foot length it was in TOS. Like the Abrams films, I wonder if they arbitrarily enlarged the ship like they did in the 2009 film. Of course we all know the interior sets and exterior models do not necessarily match in size. It’s only a movie, as Hitchcock would say. From the size of the windows, Pike’s Enterprise does aproximate the scale of the TOS Enterprise.

 

[Nelson Au]

By the way, I noticed a nice bit of design in the environmental suits, they have some design nods to the TOS suits. Check out the chest plates.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I noticed that too!

 

[joshEH]

Pike’s quarters does feel a bit like a ski chalet with the fireplace!

About the size of the crew quarters and crew compliment, it’s not clear how large either is on this series yet. What I have a sneaking suspicion of is since this is a series with Kurtzman involved, the ship may not be the 947 foot length it was in TOS. Like the Abrams films, I wonder if they arbitrarily enlarged the ship like they did in the 2009 film. Of course we all know the interior sets and exterior models do not necessarily match in size. It’s only a movie, as Hitchcock would say. From the size of the windows, Pike’s Enterprise does aproximate the scale of the TOS Enterprise.

Not to worry, they're not going to alter the long-established, canonical Matt Jefferies-conceived dimensions of the Enterprise -- keep in mind too that the Enterprise-sets on both SNW and DSC have been built extra "oversized" in terms of scale from their original TOS-dimensions in order to allow for both ultra-widescreen cinematography as well as dynamic camera-movement (since TOS was originally shot 1.33:1 back in the '60s), etc.

The U.S.S. Discovery-sets follow similar dimensions. But we can assume that even though the bridge, Main Engineering, and Pike's quarters look "bigger" to the real-world audience on our wide HDTVs now, in-universe they're still the exact same dimensions that they're supposed to be in the 2260s onward (plus or minus reasonable margins for occasional Starfleet-renovations, etc.).

Remember, a change in the real-world depiction doesn't have to be taken literally as a real in-universe difference. Otherwise Robin Curtis's Saavik would be counted as a totally-different character than Kirstie Alley's Saavik, for instance.

 

[joshEH]

New preview for next week's episode, "Ghosts of Illyria":

 

[Neil Middlemiss]

This show is really something wonderful right now. I love the long-form, season-length narratives we get to experience in Discovery and Picard (though season 2 of Picard wasn’t all that good), the more standalone approach feels fresh and new. Odd since we’ve got hundreds of Trek episodes that enjoyed that approach.

SNW so far has been thrilling and delighting, an energizing (see what I did there ) experience that leaves me with a goofy grin on my face by the time the credits roll. Anson Mount feels like he could become the very best captain for me, and that is saying a lot!!! He’s charismatic, charming, endearing, and unendingly watchable. The rest of the cast so far all seem very good or at least interesting.

I could not be happier right now as a life long Trek fan. We’re in a new golden age of Trek and I am loving it.

 

[ScottRE]

But I wasn’t sure I could see that given how Uhura is seen and portrayed on TOS. She’s of course never shown to be a prodigy at linguistics on TOS, s

If you ask Nick Meyer, Uhura couldn't even speak Klingon without a library of dusty old books under her console.

A little off topic, but as much as the original series featured the supporting cast more, the series was never gonna be an ensemble. It was always star driven, just that they had a little more money to feature these guys. Also NBC wanted more stories off the ship and you can't bring everyone down on a weekly. Nichelle Nichols went from having a contract to becoming a day player because the execs felt they were paying her too much for a supporting role. Sulu had a few decent appearances but he was mostly stuck at the helm. Even Roddenberry originally told Doohan that he didn't think they'd need a regular Engineer and dropped him from the series before the series proper, but Doohan's agent fixed that.

Finally, William Shatner had a 20% ownership percentage and saw his popularity being eclipsed by his co-star. They made sure to keep the focus at the top to keep him happier. While there were a few ensemble shows in the 60's, the standard was still star driven with supporting. The third season worked out better for the Gang of Four because the budget kept them on the ship a lot more.

Back to SNW: I Love how they're fleshing out a few of the old timers. Spock being alien and detatched with that lit of laughter is right on point. Nimoy's Spock evolved and in the beginning he was more alien and severe. And he smiled in The Cage. It works.

I'm not thrilled at Chapel and Uhura being there because of Small Universe Syndrome, but I appreciate how they fit in. La'an Sing isn't impressing me in any way. I assume they'll touch on that massive chip on her shoulder and link it to her bloodline (again, I wish they'd stop pushing the Khan button on Star Trek already).

I loved the story and the one and done feel of the show is so refreshingly old school. This was the right choice. I love the set design, miles better than Bad Robot sets and Enterprise design.

Fingers crossed that a) the quality is kept up b) they feel confident soon to stop leaning on established TOS characters and create their own legacy 3) we meet Sybok!

 

[DaveF]

Really enjoyed S01E02 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I like the characters, the performers, and the standalone format. I like the balance of characters' internal lives (emotional arc) and classic scifi. I thought the trade-off in scientific "rigor" to achieve a one-hour story (and added emotional impact) was well done for an hour-long "short story".

IMO, if you're really intrigued by this specific story, I'd recommend watching the mini-series Devs on Hulu. I think it's philosophically related and digs deep into one possible interpretation of the comet's clock-maker universe question.

 

[DaveF]

Today, in 2022, they didn't have to show the lips moving in English, it could have been something gibberish.

That would be visually confusing for the viewer. It might make someone think their audio-sync is drifting in and out of alignment.

I think it's doable by a show for which it's a clear decision and is used repeatedly and consistently as the production aesthetic throughout. I don't think Trek has the consistency or repetition to pull this off.

Or, we argue that the universal translator also has a visual component that transforms the speaker's video to match the translated audio. Because we can do that today, so why not in 500 years on a Warp-capable starship?

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Well, watched the first episode and found it a mixed bag.

The good...

The look of the show. The throwback bridge loaded with color, looks wonderful. Good throwback costumes. The ship and the planets and space travel, very cool.

The sound of the show. Also well done. Star Trek to a middle-aged classic Trek fan like me, should have a sound atmosphere that puts you there. So far, so good.

The flow of the episode, decent. I think they basically have in place a look, sound, and structure.

This seems very influenced by the Star Trek films that featured the original cast. I like that. The way they opened with Pike on earth felt like a Star Trek film. Worked for me.

The throwback characters, all basically worked for me. Pike, Spock, Uhura, Chapel...I am digging that.

The bad:

Well, here we go again, the writing ranged from absolutely awful to incredibly mediocre. Several godawful speeches about terrible things that happened to different characters thrown in to, I guess, give the appearance of "depth" and backstory for these characters. They stop things dead in their tracks and apparently whomever wrote this never learned the lesson that throwing in a bit of a characters backstory works much better when you have built interest in the character and the audience cares about the character. You should not be wedging this into episode one where we do not need to see or hear this and the focus should have just been showing these characters interacting to get us intrigued. Horribly done and was a concerning sign.

The first contact idea for the episode was good but wow, what a lame story they came up with to explore it. In the original series the side that opposed the Enterprise crew were made to be memorable. Here the people on the first contact planet barely register and the awful montage of them at the end from scientists to children holding up or displaying Enterprise cutouts or drawings was dismal. What the hell is going on with the writing here?

The characters so far are incredibly bland. This is alright, as it was an introduction episode, but I mean Pike should be a force to be reckoned with and he seems just a soft spoken, and of course damaged because he has to be, leader. I thought the "biggest dick" line was sort of funny but the way they utilized it showed they were not sure how to handle it and they drained what could have been very funny to be a throwaway that barely registered. Mount has potential, hopefully the writing improves to give his character some juice.

What's with all the bad haircuts on the female characters? Granted it is Star Trek but classic Trek featured hot women. Are the haircuts supposed to make these women more badass or something?

OK, so it was episode one. You are allowed to swing and miss in your first episode. Hopefully, the writing improves though this remains the area I am always the most skeptical about. Getting a good look and sound is pretty much nearly an automatic these days with the available effects. Getting the characters to be interesting and giving the actors something to work with seems to be a rarity today.

Probably the best start to a Trek series post original series stuff but it needs work.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Nice entomological reference in episode three's title.

Apamea Illyria is a moth. Thank you, Google.

- Walter.

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, the way that this new series came about has been in my thoughts because of things Akiva Goldsman has been saying while promoting the show. I wanted to explore here how this series came to be. Goldsman’s comments seems in contrast to what we see.

We in the audience were delighted that the writers added Captain Pike in the second season of Discovery and the reaction to Anson Mount as Pike and how his character was written and portrayed really excited the fan base. I think we were more excited about the adventures of Pike then of Burnham. The producers heard us and Paramount+ and CBS heard us and agreed to make the series we are enjoying now.

But I saw the Ready Room interview with Akiva Goldsman and one of the Paramount+ promos. From how he describes his involvement, he was invited to be involved on Star Trek Discovery. IIRC, he said he didn’t know what the show was about and based on Internet chatter, he thought it might be a show that would be about TOS and involve Captain Pike. He says he felt the show should be about Pike, so by the end of the first season of Discovery, the Enterprise shows up and then in season 2, we have the storyline that involves Pike. Akiva doesn‘t hide that he’s a huge TOS fan, so I feel like he’s going to do what he wants Star Trek to be based on his love of TOS.

So what I’m hearing is Akiva Goldsman from the start planned to push for and make a series about Captain Pike just before the TOS era. But we as the fans saw that it was never in the planning stages and the series only came about because the fan reaction was so positive for this new Captain Pike.

I keep hearing Akiva’s recent comments while promoting the series in the back of my mind. I can believe he has some responsibility for the involvement of Pike in Discovery. Perhaps he and Kurtzman agreed to a storyline that involved Pike as the time line made sense for the second season. So Akiva got to do a season of Captain Pike and maybe that was all they planned for. My guess is it wasn’t a back door pilot of sorts to test the waters. I’m also guessing Akiva was hoping to do more Captain Pike stories. And the cast seemed very enthusiastic. Or perhaps there was really a desire to do the series, but whether Strange New Worlds was planned, my sense is they really were surprised by fan reaction and Akiva got his wish and ran with it.

I’m sure some of you guys read more about the production side. Perhaps you know more about this. However it came about, I’m glad it was done. So far, I’m really liking this series too. It is a great contrast to the other series they are doing.

 

[Nelson Au]

Not to worry, they're not going to alter the long-established, canonical Matt Jefferies-conceived dimensions of the Enterprise -- keep in mind too that the Enterprise-sets on both SNW and DSC have been built extra "oversized" in terms of scale from their original TOS-dimensions in order to allow for both ultra-widescreen cinematography as well as dynamic camera-movement (since TOS was originally shot 1.33:1 back in the '60s), etc.

The U.S.S. Discovery-sets follow similar dimensions. But we can assume that even though the bridge, Main Engineering, and Pike's quarters look "bigger" to the real-world audience on our wide HDTVs now, in-universe they're still the exact same dimensions that they're supposed to be in the 2260s onward (plus or minus reasonable margins for occasional Starfleet-renovations, etc.).

Remember, a change in the real-world depiction doesn't have to be taken literally as a real in-universe difference. Otherwise Robin Curtis's Saavik would be counted as a totally-different character than Kirstie Alley's Saavik, for instance.

Josh, I’m good with what you said. The spirit of the original series is there in the ship’s design. And I understand the need for modernization. Kind of like the modern interpretations of the classic cars like the Mustang and the Mini.

I have a friend whose a long time TOS fan who say the premiere when it was offered free on YouTube. He hated it. Just hated everything about it. It came down to how slick it is when the original was so bare bones that it was the story that mattered and not the slick sets and effects.

 

[Greg.K]

I'm not thrilled at Chapel and Uhura being there because of Small Universe Syndrome,

I think it's fine in this case, since it just establishes how long they've been serving on the Enterprise.

Kirk's brother being there, and the Noonien Singh descendent are the ones who make the universe seem small to me.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Or, we argue that the universal translator also has a visual component that transforms the speaker's video to match the translated audio. Because we can do that today, so why not in 500 years on a Warp-capable starship?

We know that the universal translator in part works by interpreting brain waves, so my head-canon has been that it puts the translations directly into the characters' heads, and their brains adjust the visual information to sync up with what is being "heard".

 

[SamT]