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Post by nombrecomun on Jan 4, 2023 20:22:32 GMT
I've enjoyed this season just having binged on P+. I truly appreciate this is a return to actual Star Trek were the scifi plot dominates the storytelling and not dramatic/emotional relationship issues.
I'll rewatch for sure.
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Post by Prometheus59650 on Jan 4, 2023 20:34:01 GMT
I have to say, despite a few stumbles, (like the finale changing the Pike that I thought I knew this season) the show is very good. I really question whether or not the producers can handle season-long arcs, and, everything up to now suggests to me that they can't. They just completely melt down in the middle.
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Post by nombrecomun on Jan 5, 2023 17:59:34 GMT
I have to say, despite a few stumbles, (like the finale changing the Pike that I thought I knew this season) the show is very good. Yeah....I kinda rolled my eyes when I saw that the finale was a time jump ep of sorts. It's so abused in Trek.
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Post by Sehlat Vie on Jan 5, 2023 23:27:55 GMT
Rather than try to rewrite my thoughts on the show, I'm just going to cut-and-paste from my own site, where I did a list of pros/cons on SNW:
Pros: A return to a more-or-less episodic format. After five years of arguably hit-and-miss serialized storytelling, it feels almost like a homecoming of sorts. This is how Star Trek began, and since this is a return to Star Trek’s roots, it kinda feels right. Anson Mount is absolutely terrific as Captain Christopher Pike. This was obvious from his guest-star season in DSC, where he almost effortlessly became that season’s MVP. His easygoing yet firm command style is the perfect balance between Kirk and Picard; a hero of both action and wisdom. The man has amazing hair, too; it’s a force of nature.
The absolutely gorgeous exterior and interiors of the USS Enterprise. The series’ production design keeps many of the iconic shapes and silhouettes, but smartly updates them for a new generation of cinematic-quality television. The scope of this series, much like DSC, is feature-film quality. In addition to the new virtual walls used to extend the Engineering set, there is also clever use of location shooting as well, which adds to SNW’s cinematic feel. Ethan Peck’s Spock, who also debuted in DSC, grew on me over time. But now that we’ve seen him in action, I very much get why he was cast. He’s not doing Nimoy’s Spock; Peck’s Spock is a younger, less-controlled version of the character, and it works.
The most unexpected surprise of the series to date is that Nurse Christine Chapel (Jess Bush), a character who was largely ignored in TOS, has become a favorite character of mine. Bush gives her an energy, spunk, and nerdy cool that makes her so much more interesting than a sad-faced nurse forever pining for Mr. Spock. This reimagining–no, rehabilitation of the character is so good that I wouldn’t mind if they tweaked her destiny a bit, and put her in charge of her own sickbay someday.
Cons: With the exception of Melissa Navia’s “Erica Ortegas”, everyone has been given a spotlight episode in SNW’s first season. The easygoing Ortegas is certainly a likable character, even with limited screen time, and I look forward to see when she’ll get her own story someday.
Not exactly crazy with how they’ve retconned the Gorn from a misunderstood, almost sympathetic sentient reptile in TOS (“Arena”) into little more than a mindless, parasitic menace to be wiped out (a la “ALIENS”). I won’t even get into their premature first contact happening years before Kirk and crew first meet them.
I had some issues with “A Quality of Mercy” as well; beyond the lackluster new interpretations of Kirk (Paul Wesley) and the Romulan commander (Matthew MacFadzean), the episode’s implication that Kirk is a better combat strategist rings false to me, since nothing in SNW to date suggests that Pike is any less a combat leader than James T. Kirk. I think Pike, despite his peacemaking core, would do exactly what needed to be done. As we saw in “The Cage,” he clearly knows how to tap into anger and decisiveness when needed.
All in all? I love this show. The pilot (inspired by "Day the Earth Stood Still") was textbook Star Trek.
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Post by Prometheus59650 on Jan 6, 2023 15:14:01 GMT
Navia wouldn't spoil anything last year, but I think there's at least two episodes where she features prominently.
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Post by RobinBland on Jan 6, 2023 23:03:02 GMT
I feel like I have to watch the season again. I really enjoyed those first four or five episodes. No, actually it was up and including ep 7, which (other than Prodigy) is, for me, a fantastic run of quality for a Kurtzman-era Trek show. I didn't like the bottle show where the Enterprise became some kind of magical fairy tale kingdom much, but I also felt there was room for that. It wasn't bad, just not my cup of tea. You could see them trying to a Naked Time or Naked Now and it felt like a little bit of a strain.
After that, we got the "Aliens" style runaround on the ice world with the young Gorn which also felt kind of inevitable. It wasn't terrible or anything, but it felt a bit trope-y.
I'm still not entirely sure how I felt about that final ep, which I only watched once. Anson Mount's Pike is such a good creation overall, it felt very early to reinvent him again when he'd already gone through something similar already on Disco S2. I guess they felt they needed to put that theme to bed - it was was his "Am I good man?" moment. (Yes, of course you are, Pike!)
I think I felt very much that they really didn't need to re-do Balance of Terror. I recall really not liking how much they'd changed Ortegas to fit this version of events - gone was the fun helmsman (helmsperson?) of the previous nine episodes. And boy, I really didn't like that tepid new Kirk.
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Post by nombrecomun on Jan 7, 2023 3:35:37 GMT
I didn't like the bottle show where the Enterprise became some kind of magical fairy tale kingdom much, but I also felt there was room for that. It wasn't bad, just not my cup of tea. Ditto. Especially when we already had somewhat of a comedic ep with Spock Amok which was fantastic imo. I felt like this fantasy ep, Elysian Kingdom, could have waited for the following season. It is practically a filler ep except that it does give a resolution to the md's daughter. I'm actually kinda surprised they resolved this so quickly since it feels like that's all that this character was about; his angst about his daughter's condition. Now that this is out of the way.....well.....what's he about? In so many ways it feels like they've put Nurse Chapel as the lead medical person. With his daughter out of the picture, he now seems superfluous.
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Post by nombrecomun on Jan 7, 2023 3:37:28 GMT
And boy, I really didn't like that tepid new Kirk. Totally. I wish they hadn't included Kirk, as if feels like it robs away from Pike(superbly portrayed by Mount), and as you say it's a real tepid characterization of Kirk. No way would I see that guy as the legendary Kirk. I understand Kirk will be back in S2 and I'm less than pleased about this.
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Post by Sehlat Vie on Jan 7, 2023 3:56:49 GMT
I think I felt very much that they really didn't need to re-do Balance of Terror. I recall really not liking how much they'd changed Ortegas to fit this version of events - gone was the fun helmsman (helmsperson?) of the previous nine episodes. And boy, I really didn't like that tepid new Kirk. The Kirk was so generic, he barely registered for me. Also wasn't fond of the suddenly racist Ortegas, either; she's a great character, even in her minimalist role to date, and I'd hate to see her become Stiles version 2.0.
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Post by Prometheus59650 on Jan 7, 2023 4:49:03 GMT
I think I felt very much that they really didn't need to re-do Balance of Terror. I recall really not liking how much they'd changed Ortegas to fit this version of events - gone was the fun helmsman (helmsperson?) of the previous nine episodes. And boy, I really didn't like that tepid new Kirk. The Kirk was so generic, he barely registered for me. Also wasn't fond of the suddenly racist Ortegas, either; she's a great character, even in her minimalist role to date, and I'd hate to see her become Stiles version 2.0. I think they just needed a "Styles" for this and she was it. Alternate timeline and all that. They should have just hired a guest for the role. I believe it was Paradise that said that that Kirk wasn't supposed to be "ours," so, I hope when they bring him back he's more familiar. But, to be blunt, SNW doesn't need any version of him.
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Post by Sehlat Vie on Jan 7, 2023 19:59:48 GMT
The Kirk was so generic, he barely registered for me. Also wasn't fond of the suddenly racist Ortegas, either; she's a great character, even in her minimalist role to date, and I'd hate to see her become Stiles version 2.0. I think they just needed a "Styles" for this and she was it. Alternate timeline and all that. They should have just hired a guest for the role. I believe it was Paradise that said that that Kirk wasn't supposed to be "ours," so, I hope when they bring him back he's more familiar. But, to be blunt, SNW doesn't need any version of him. It's too soon. I know he's coming back in season 2 (or so they hint), but I've wanted a Pike-led Star Trek since I first saw "The Cage" uncut, and I'd hate to think Kirk has to take the limelight in this series as well. Other than that, I'm really loving SNW. Also looking forward to seeing Carol Kane as the new ship's engineer, too; she'll bring a unique energy to it, I think.
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Post by SherlockHolmes on Jan 12, 2023 17:19:30 GMT
I was loving this show, but I can't get over a few things.
1. THE BLEEPITY BLEEP ALIEN KNOCKOFF HORROR MONSTERS THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SAY ARE GORN. This is as bad as the awful Klingons in Discovery Season 1. Seriously, could have just made up new aliens.
2. Shiny Floors. Why the hell does all Nu-trek ships have shiny mopped floors? I found the carpeted floors more realistic and felt more like a ship than the inside of a building.
3. Balance of Terror 2.0 character assassination of Pike. (BLEEP) THIS (BLEEP). This is utter BULL(Bleep). Fire the writer of that episode!!!!
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Post by Prometheus59650 on Jan 12, 2023 17:50:54 GMT
I was loving this show, but I can't get over a few things. 1. THE BLEEPITY BLEEP ALIEN KNOCKOFF HORROR MONSTERS THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SAY ARE GORN. This is as bad as the awful Klingons in Discovery Season 1. Seriously, could have just made up new aliens. 2. Shiny Floors. Why the hell does all Nu-trek ships have shiny mopped floors? I found the carpeted floors more realistic and felt more like a ship than the inside of a building. 3. Balance of Terror 2.0 character assassination of Pike. (BLEEP) THIS (BLEEP). This is utter BULL(Bleep). Fire the writer of that episode!!!! 1- There's nothing known about the Gorn. Just say that this is a certain subset of the Gorn and I won't even be annoyed with it. I'll leave it to other fans to endlessly nitpick the how and why. 3- What did they even write? At least a third of the episode is a cut and paste of the original BoT script.
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Post by RobinBland on Jan 12, 2023 20:41:39 GMT
I think that final ep is the biggest misstep of S1.
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Post by Prometheus59650 on Jan 12, 2023 22:33:12 GMT
I think that final ep is the biggest misstep of S1. Absolutely no question. Unoriginal and, as Sherlock put it, genuine character assassination.
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Post by SherlockHolmes on Jan 12, 2023 23:18:34 GMT
4: I also forgot this one. They butchered the maroon uniform. It looked like a twelve year old put it together for Halloween.
Edit: Speaking of unoriginality, although I enjoyed the episode a lot, did anyone else feel like the episode with the Gorn ship battle felt a lot like "Starship Down" Ds9?
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Post by Prometheus59650 on Jan 13, 2023 4:46:44 GMT
4: I also forgot this one. They butchered the maroon uniform. It looked like a twelve year old put it together for Halloween. Edit: Speaking of unoriginality, although I enjoyed the episode a lot, did anyone else feel like the episode with the Gorn ship battle felt a lot like "Starship Down" Ds9? Definitely feels like that, though that's one of those plot setups, like the play on submarine films that is "Balance of Terror," that I'll always like if it's pulled off with any competency at all.
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Post by Tupperfan on Jan 13, 2023 17:08:57 GMT
4: I also forgot this one. They butchered the maroon uniform. It looked like a twelve year old put it together for Halloween. I agree with your other points to various degrees (like Prom, I could easily dismiss the Gorn seen in SNW as a subspecies, or 'juvenile' characteristics), but I personally thought the monster maroon uniform worn by Pike was a pretty good update. It looked way more similar to the original version than most 'reimagined' uniforms seen in Disco/SNW until now.
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Post by scenario on Jan 14, 2023 1:07:55 GMT
I was loving this show, but I can't get over a few things. 1. THE BLEEPITY BLEEP ALIEN KNOCKOFF HORROR MONSTERS THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SAY ARE GORN. This is as bad as the awful Klingons in Discovery Season 1. Seriously, could have just made up new aliens. 2. Shiny Floors. Why the hell does all Nu-trek ships have shiny mopped floors? I found the carpeted floors more realistic and felt more like a ship than the inside of a building. 3. Balance of Terror 2.0 character assassination of Pike. (BLEEP) THIS (BLEEP). This is utter BULL(Bleep). Fire the writer of that episode!!!! 1- There's nothing known about the Gorn. Just say that this is a certain subset of the Gorn and I won't even be annoyed with it. I'll leave it to other fans to endlessly nitpick the how and why. 3- What did they even write? At least a third of the episode is a cut and paste of the original BoT script. I look at SNW Gorn as baby Gorn that even the Gorn are afraid of. There are insects like that. Voracious young that change to butterflies or something as adults. I'd much rather they introduce TOS characters one character a season. Spock in Discovery. Uhura in season 2. Scotty in season 3. Save Kirk for near the end of the last season.
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Post by SherlockHolmes on Jan 14, 2023 3:11:23 GMT
Im disappointed in the lack of Boyce and Tyler. Even the Yeoman. I mean when Pike got abducted by the Talosians, Tyler was determined to blast down that door, even literally cranking his phaser to overkill, and seemingly melting the barrel. He also seemed to have more lines than most of the cast, i cant believe they threw him to the side...or forgot him.
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Post by scenario on Jan 14, 2023 3:14:35 GMT
They probably wanted a more diverse cast and forgot most of the cast.
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Post by Sehlat Vie on Jan 17, 2023 1:04:48 GMT
I was loving this show, but I can't get over a few things. 1. THE BLEEPITY BLEEP ALIEN KNOCKOFF HORROR MONSTERS THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SAY ARE GORN. This is as bad as the awful Klingons in Discovery Season 1. Seriously, could have just made up new aliens. 3. Balance of Terror 2.0 character assassination of Pike. (BLEEP) THIS (BLEEP). This is utter BULL(Bleep). Fire the writer of that episode!!!! These two bugged me the most. I'd also add crappy lackluster version of Kirk to that pile, as well.
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Post by SherlockHolmes on Jan 17, 2023 4:10:55 GMT
I was loving this show, but I can't get over a few things. 1. THE BLEEPITY BLEEP ALIEN KNOCKOFF HORROR MONSTERS THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SAY ARE GORN. This is as bad as the awful Klingons in Discovery Season 1. Seriously, could have just made up new aliens. 3. Balance of Terror 2.0 character assassination of Pike. (BLEEP) THIS (BLEEP). This is utter BULL(Bleep). Fire the writer of that episode!!!! These two bugged me the most. I'd also add crappy lackluster version of Kirk to that pile, as well. Vampire Kirk...Stefan Kirk...The Kirk Diaries...
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