Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 2x04 "Among the Lotus Eaters"

Written by Kirsten Beyer & Davy Perez

Directed by Eduardo Sanchez

LoglineReturning to a planet that dredges up tragic memories, Captain Pike and his landing party find themselves forgetting everything, including their own identities as he confronts a ghost from his past.

UESPA_Sputnik ,
@UESPA_Sputnik@lemmy.world avatar

I’m a bit undecided about this episode.

Stuff that I liked:

  • a strange new(-ish) world
  • everyone got something to do, unlike last week
  • once again some funny Spock moments
  • the visuals on this show are stunning once again. The planet looked nice, the external VFX in the debris field of two celestial bodies that orbited Rigel VII several centuries ago looked nice, the Enterprise interiors look so nice.

Stuff that I didn’t like:

  • I’m not a fan of forced relationship dramas. Plus, from the pilot episode I got the feeling that Pike and Batel (does she even have a first name yet?) are only friends with benefits, but now Batel storms off after Pike says he wants to take it easy? Weird.
  • how can a society or any sort of structure be maintained if you can’t remember anything? The whole premise felt a bit off.
  • the writing for Ortegas was weak. Her personal log at the beginning of the episode sounded like it was written by ChatGPT. And the stuff towards the end of the episode wasn’t great either. The actor did the best she could with what she was given but the writing really didn’t do her any favors.
exscape ,
@exscape@kbin.social avatar

how can a society or any sort of structure be maintained if you can’t remember anything? The whole premise felt a bit off.

The rulers in the palace could remember, though (because of the shielding provided by some metal). And the workers/slaves remembered enough to perform their tasks.

sammydee ,
@sammydee@universeodon.com avatar

@exscape @ValueSubtracted @UESPA_Sputnik Spoiler alert, please!

This is one of the earliest Sci-Fi themes. See: Nightfall by Asimov (1941).

I thought they covered it well in the ep. (Write things down, write things on YOURSELF, etc).

exscape ,
@exscape@kbin.social avatar

Hm, considering your instance name, are you reading this on Mastodon? I've not gotten the hang of how federation with Mastodon works, but I'm reading/writing this on Kbin, and the post is on Lemmy, in the discussion thread for the latest episode, where spoilers for that episode are assumed to exist without warning.
In any case I apologize if you were spoiled by my post, but I'm not sure how to improve things in the future TBH.

sammydee ,
@sammydee@universeodon.com avatar

@exscape @ValueSubtracted @UESPA_Sputnik Yes, I'm reading on Mastodon. Interesting, I may have to stop following the lemmy hashtag. Federation is a fun idea but apparently doesn't work quite right.

psychothumbs ,

Trying to avoid particular pieces of information is a tough problem for a federated network to solve.

Klanky ,
@Klanky@sopuli.xyz avatar

Just among the ‘field Kalar’, how are there relationships enough to maintain a population? Unless they’re just used to reading a piece of paper “this is my spouse, this is my child” and I guess the deep emotions they talked about as persisting fill in the rest. Still, I think it would be hard to build the relationships without those deep emotions in place. Sorta sounds like “50 First Date” (never saw it but the premise).

CeruleanRuin ,
@CeruleanRuin@lemmy.one avatar

Only the workers outside the castle lost their memories. The guards had helmets made of a material that protected them from the worst effects, and the palace shielded those inside.

The end result is a caste system, where you have people who remember and give orders and people who forget and have no choice but to follow.

MarceloTeson ,

I like the Pike/Batel relationship dynamic. I like that they’re both captains with their own responsibilities, which is new and different from what we’ve seen in previous iterations of Trek where one is an officer and the other is left at home or something. It doesn’t feel forced to me, although the question of weren’t they just FWB’s is an interesting one, I’d have to go back and look at the pilot. But I’m ok with buying that they’re closer than that but just can’t make it work because they both have ships to captain.

I would like to see more of her being a captain. Hopefully there’s an episode in the future where we get to see her on her bridge doing her thing.

UESPA_Sputnik ,
@UESPA_Sputnik@lemmy.world avatar

I mean, we had Ben Sisko and Kassidy Yates who both were captains. But I agree with you that Pike and Batel really seem to be equals, and I really like that relationship dynamic.

As I said, from the pilot episode I got the impression that they are friends with benefits who like to hook up when they happen to be in the same sector – no strings attached. (underlined by the fact that Pike had a fling with that lady from the child-killing planet) I think that could be an interesting relationship dynamic to explore because unlike Kirk who had a chick on every planet (with rather unequal dynamics), Pike and Batel both have found someone equal with all the limitations that the jobs brings with it.

I just hope the writing for Batel was an exception in this week’s episode because it didn’t make her look good – being overly emotional and storming off after Pike just stated some facts. I don’t think that’s the type of female character they should be aiming for nowadays.

eva_sieve ,

I’m also in the camp that liked it, Pike since his reintroduction in Disco S2 has been one of the franchises’ most emotionally open captains. Most of the time we see this as this self-assured dad energy he uses when talking to his subordinates, but I think it was good to see how he can be vulnerable but still that genuine, emotionally mature guy with someone who’s on the same level as him.

Mezentine ,

That’s probably one of my favorite episodes of the series as a viewing experience, it was pretty entertaining. I don’t think I quite track…the message, though? In the span of about three minutes we get explicitly told that for Pike and Ortegas the memory loss could be revealing experience that identified the core of the self, while for their friend on the planet it was an obscuring experience that robbed him of things he didn’t know were important. You can explain away the difference with plot logic pretty easily, but thematically it’s a bit weird to juxtapose them right next to each other

psychothumbs ,

I think it makes sense that a brief bout of amnesia like that could be revealing of your underlying traits and feelings, but that in the normal course of things it’s very important to have your memories.

ComptitiveSubset ,

This episode belongs together with the better episodes of TNG. I liked it a lot.

GummySquirrel ,
@GummySquirrel@startrek.website avatar

I’ve been waiting for the crew explore a new planet. Hoping there’s more of these episodes than less

concrete_baby ,

Who voiced the computer? It sounds like Kate Mulgrew

tukarrs ,

listed as Alex Kapp www.imdb.com/name/nm0395088/

jimternet ,

Yeah I thought exactly the same!

flamingmongoose ,

Enjoyed this very much, the tone was very creepy. Reminded me of the psychological horror episodes only TNG really did.

StillPaisleyCat ,
@StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website avatar

I would link it back to psychological mystery of The Cage and further to its touchstone, the MGM 50s classic Forbidden Planet.

regeya ,

Rigel 7 is literally a callback to The Cage

StillPaisleyCat ,
@StillPaisleyCat@startrek.website avatar

Yes, it’s a direct plot reference to the backstory for The Cage.

I was responding to the comment that it’s like TNG psychological episodes, when I see it as in the tradition of Forbidden Planet where an unknown technology or phenomenon is changing brain function so that subconscious or deep behaviours are revealed.

Klanky ,
@Klanky@sopuli.xyz avatar

Was it just me, or did anyone hear bits and pieces of the score from Rura Penthe while Pike and co were breaking rocks out in the snow?

concrete_baby ,

It’s good to see Kirsten Beyer back in the writer’s room. It could be her that this episode reminds me of Workforce from VOY where the away team forget about their identities and keep on working for the planet government.

I felt the pacing was a bit rushed at the end and the episode could have given more time to explore the Kalar man’s memories and history so his arch is more earned.

AuroraBorealis , (edited )
@AuroraBorealis@pawb.social avatar

It’s a common trope that the away teams really shouldn’t be landing in these planets without any idea what’s down there without an alien style hazmat suit and here we go, another example :) I GUESS they get a pass because they were here before and the effects didn’t happen because they were not here long enough

also really strange they don’t confirm that people were dead? Or try and go back and get their bodies which might have equipment/ com badges /might even be alien (Spock was there and he bleeds green), maybe starfleet shouldn’t be so careless about what they leave behind…

ValueSubtracted OP Mod ,
@ValueSubtracted@startrek.website avatar

No EV suit would have protected them, either - the Enterprise was affected as well.

khaosworks ,
@khaosworks@startrek.website avatar

They handled that subtly - I was wondering why they didn't raise shields against the radiation, but the shimmering impact of the debris field seen when Ortegas was in her quarters showed that shields were indeed up, so that mean the radiation could get through shields. Then it was mentioned that Spock tweaked the shield harmonics at the end - I guess he didn't earlier because he was already affected.

ValueSubtracted OP Mod ,
@ValueSubtracted@startrek.website avatar

I think at the time they lacked sufficient information to modulate the shields, which is why moving the ship into the astroids seemed logical.

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