Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 2x05 "Charades"

LoglineA shuttle accident leads to Spock’s Vulcan DNA being removed by aliens, making him fully human and completely unprepared to face T’Pring’s family during an important ceremonial dinner.

Written by Kathryn Lyn & Henry Alonso Myers

Directed by Jordan Canning

maegul ,

So I’m not really the biggest fan of the episode. Felt a bit too obviously like mid-season filler or something. Though I didn’t hate it.

But what I actually really appreciated about it, reflecting on it just now, is that I don’t think it was predictable, like at all. You couldn’t quite tell if the episode was going to go full comedy, or romantic drama or some whacky sci-fi stuff with the wormhole aliens.

And I think that might be one of SNW’s strengths (?) A sort of comfortable and maybe confident fluidity around the tone and style it’s going for in any episode and at any point in time.

williams_482 ,
@williams_482@startrek.website avatar

Felt a bit too obviously like mid-season filler or something. Though I didn’t hate it.

As far as I’m concerned, the weakest parts of the show were the parts that tried the hardest not to be “mid-season filler”: creating and resolving the doctor’s insane daughter-in-transporter-buffer situation, trying to set up a future “big bad” situation with Sybok, etc. I was very concerned from Alex Kurtzman’s description of this current season many months ago that they might have learned the wrong lessons from the first season, but thank goodness that they seem to have stuck with what made the first season good: brilliantly executed character driven episodic storytelling.

SoSquidTaste ,

future “big bad” situation with Sybok

For real though, wtf happened with that mic drop reveal. Not that I'm complaining; I don't feel particularly excited to learn about another previously-unheard-of Spock sibling.

Then again, the amount of times Sarek's name was dropped in this episode is probably a clear breadcrumb that this storyline is coming sooner than later.

eva_sieve ,

To be fair, Sybok was the original spontaneous Spock sibling, even though Star Trek V was chronologically later.

Mezentine ,

No its great. I love them bringing Sybok back so much. Its so stupid. Its the goofiest decision they could have possibly made and it embodies something I love about Star Trek, which is its refusal to throw away even the bad stuff. Every reminder that Star Trek V is canon keeps the franchise from getting too arrogant about itself.

FormerGameDev ,

I would guess that if we see Sarek in this series, it’s going to be either purely through another character’s view, or just mentions. It’s many years off still before Sarek gets over Spock’s decision to join Starfleet, and starts talking to him again.

williams_482 ,
@williams_482@startrek.website avatar

Much to my own surprise, I’m a complete sucker for this budding Spock/Chapel romance. I just want these two beautiful people to be happy together, damn it! We all know it’s doomed, unfortunately, and I hope that whatever inevitably destroys it doesn’t turn out to be too painful for the characters involved. Spock and Chapel are obviously not engaged in a romantic relationship in TOS, most obviously in Amok Time when such a pairing would have rendered the entire story trivial.

Someone mentioned in a previous thread that Spock’s Pon Farr (seven years before Amok Time) is closing in. I was skeptical in that thread that they would choose to touch on it then, but the events of this episode do make that seem quite a bit more likely, if (again) increasingly difficult to square with Amok Time.

SteleTrovilo ,

I’m holding out hope for Spock/Chapel. I actually think SNW subtly branched away from the Prime timeline some time ago, so the future for these characters is not yet written!

CaptainProton ,

what makes you say that?

effinstephen ,

The Temporal Cold War has made ripples in the timeline. The Romulan time traveler in “Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow” strongly hinted that history was at least a little bit different than it had been, with the date of the Eugenics War as case in point. I think the writers are freeing themselves up to make minor changes to canon. I don’t think it’s a branching timeline, though, it’s still Prime. Just a little bit different, like Gabriel Bell being replaced by Captain Sisco.

triktrek ,

It’s sci-fi – if the producers feel strongly enough to make a blank slate, they can always retcon or shall I say future-con, and have SNW branch out a different timeline.

CaptainProton ,

But there is nothing in the series so far that suggests SNW has diverged. Unless you count the visual aspects, I suppose, although that means Disco is also an alt-timeline.

WolfeReader ,
@WolfeReader@freeradical.zone avatar

@triktrek @CaptainProton Our instances sometimes don’t federate correctly, so I'm gonna reply from Mastoson this time! Here’s the reply that shows how SNW has, maybe, diverged: https://beehaw.org/comment/658690

maegul ,

Woah woah … they’re fighting words!!

BadExampleMan ,

I don’t know but what Amok Time was Spock’s first pon farr. Vulcans age and mature more slowly than humans, right?

hazelnot ,

fuck you unvulcans your spock

RoundSparrow ,

I surely got some nods to Bender becoming human in Futurma season 4. The bacon eating scene, surely a Matt Groening reference to Homer’s love for pork, and Bender went wild on nachos and hot dogs.

TeaHands ,
@TeaHands@lemmy.world avatar

I was also thinking this the whole way through 😄

crazycanadianloon ,

Same! The only thing missing was a cigar in his hands!

CCF_100 ,

This episode was really fun

felixxx999 ,

I loved the episode. Someone needs to make a Spock kicking the air GIF. I love that Spock has two hotties fighting for his attention. This was close to a hangout Trek. AND they were on a mission too! This episode felt so much like TNG. Again, Pike’s hair is amazing. THE BEST PART: When Pike tried to escape the reunion of Spock and his future mother in law the damned door wouldn’t open. Pike avoiding family conflict was the best running joke on the show. And LOVED that Pike wasn’t the hero. Show is so good.

triktrek ,

When Pike was serving that tray of food only to make a 90 degree turn, lol

ranphi ,

I was disappointed they didn’t spend more time on the scene at the end where Spock reveals to T’pring’s mother that he was actually human while performing their precious ceremony. Really wanted to see him yank that Vulcan rose bush that woman had up her ass!

VindictiveJudge ,

As much as I enjoy seeing the asshole Vulcans be taken down a peg, I really want to see more of her husband. He was laid back and expressive, so I thought there was going to be a twist with him. I hope he comes back later. He may be one of those Vulcans that gets the whole, “logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end,” thing.

ranphi ,

Yes, agreed. He seemed like a genuinely decent individual from the brief time he had on screen. But you could tell that even he was terrified of his wife’s behavior. Poor guy! Imagine being married to someone like his wife… 😱

Ooh! Maybe they could do an episode where comes back to get help from Pike, Spock, and T’pring because he’s looking to divorce that demon of a Vulcan wife?! Lol.

goGetF1 ,

They characterized T’Pring’s parents really well, I thought. You could see where her compassion and acceptance came from, as well as her adherence to tradition.

theothersparrow ,
@theothersparrow@lemmy.one avatar

Poor guy! Imagine being married to someone like his wife…

Bold of you to assume that her domineering personality isn’t exactly what he likes about her.

theothersparrow ,
@theothersparrow@lemmy.one avatar

We definitely didn’t get enough of his reaction to the human reveal.

IntergalacticTowel ,
@IntergalacticTowel@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I love this show. I actually like every character in it, which is rare for me these days. Cannot wait for more.

End0fLine ,
@End0fLine@startrek.website avatar

The moment when Spock saw himself in the mirror gave me a good chuckle. His reaction as a human to seeing he no longer had vulcan ears was hilarious.

I am completely on board with the Chapel/Spock shipping going on. My heart broke for her a little bit when she administered the cure to Spock.

Mezentine ,

Its such a good way to write their whole dynamic! That its only when he’s missing a part of himself that he feels emotionally accessible to her, but the part of him that’s gone is part of who she loves as well. Its good, “nail the fundamentals” tragic romantic shit!

Mezentine ,

​I absolutely love the Kerkhovians holy shit. They feel like they’ve fallen out of a slightly different genre of Sci Fi than Star Trek normally goes for, like something from a Revelation Space or a Culture novel.

alex ,
@alex@mstdn.ca avatar

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    VindictiveJudge ,

    Like dealing with Vogon customer support.

    alex ,
    @alex@mstdn.ca avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

    •
    deweydecibel ,

    Just curious, why are you @'ing? Is that a thing you have to do from a mastadon instance?

    alex ,
    @alex@mstdn.ca avatar

    @deweydecibel I’m not sure? I just hit the “reply” button in my client. In this case, Ice Cubes for iOS. Perhaps it doesn’t translate smoothly into Lemmy just yet.

    FormerGameDev ,

    One of my viewing partners said “They only know humanity from call centers.”

    theothersparrow ,
    @theothersparrow@lemmy.one avatar

    They’re like GLaDOS if she was… decent.

    thomasb2k ,

    I loved this episode!

    Disgustoid ,

    I laughed more times in that one episode than I have during hundreds of previous Trek episodes COMBINED. Trek comedy has never landed with me which makes this the best Trek comedy ever by a large margin. Angsty Spock and the crew’s reaction to him were genuinely funny, with a special nod to Pike’s “WTF” facial reactions in the background during the ceremony.

    Going in spoiler-free and without having read people’s opinions in this thread, I’m going to guess this is going to be one hell of a polarizing episode. But one I really enjoyed, so there’s that.

    triktrek ,

    Hehe, yeah, same here. My favorite one was the “What the F—” from Spock from the teaser.

    const_void ,
    @const_void@lemmy.world avatar

    It is a great what if episode ( what if Spock was human for a day) and colors within the lines (in that everyone else plays true to the their character & situation).

    We really really enjoyed it!

    Spock being human was great in that he had no clue how to be human, like when he overlaughs at the bar. Lol!

    Now… there are a few moments where I feel like the dialog of the Vulcans used more emotional words than the precise language of logic might require.

    One is where T’Pring says her mother felt and perhaps believed would have been a more rational word choice?

    There are a few cases like that and for me it is surprising each time it happens.

    Mezentine ,

    They’re also doing a really good job of playing out the long arc of T’Pring and Spock having genuine affection for each other to the point where we’re actually kind of going to be on T’Pring’s side when she finally reaches the conclusion of “Man, fuck that guy”

    triktrek ,

    Y’all ready to buy that Star Trek beanie at the next Trek convention? Makes for easy cosplay, especially if you have human ears.

    FormerGameDev ,

    i would absolutely buy an official one of these

    UhBell ,
    @UhBell@lemmy.world avatar

    It’s standard protocol

    teft ,

    What if you have ferengi ears?

    theothersparrow ,
    @theothersparrow@lemmy.one avatar

    This guy doesn’t have the lobes for Starfleet apparel.

    triktrek , (edited )

    All the jokes aside, the music right before Spock and Chapel kiss was beautiful.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • random
  • [email protected]
  • All magazines
    •