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....
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.
Things I liked: Ethan Peck and Mount have some great comedic chops. Many funny lines throughout, generally enjoyable.
Things I did not like: Never been a fan of altering Spock’s backstory with T’pring. Chapel doesn’t even know that Spock was engaged in Spock Amok. Please stop the T’pring stuff, also maybe it’s time we saw some Spock instead of all this funny stuff.
The entire part where Chapel has to explain her feelings to an alien felt juvenile and stupid.
Spock’s engagement came as a shock to everyone in Amok Time and that was part of what made the episode interesting. It was not some obscure detail. The storytelling in TOS isn’t boring, especially not Amok Time, one of the best episodes in the franchise. As for the social commentary this episode did nothing new so I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Also, narrow social picture? The new shows have been pretty timid in this regard, far more than TOS was for its time. Picard gave us an uninteresting token lesbian relationship that no one can care about and Disco gave us a non-binary character who had to explain her use of pronouns to the characters. Buckle up, non binary people, you’ll still be weirdoes 300 years in the future, according to Star Trek at least.
Advice: if different opinions about a TV show bother you to the extent that you feel the need to insult those who have them maybe it’s time to disconnect from social media for a while and come back with a cooler head.
Edit: I know that if you are a younger fan you probably have not watched TOS and your limited exposure to different kinds of media probably makes enjoying it a tall order for you; it might as well not exist. You should keep in mind, however, that many of us genuinely enjoy it and you have no right to call us pseudo-fans just because you don’t like it.
::: spoiler Logline La’An travels back in time to twenty-first-century Earth to prevent an attack which will alter humanity’s future history—and bring her face to face with her own contentious legacy. :::...
I really like Paul Wesley’s portrayal and the way Kirk is written. Honestly I can imagine this as a TOS episode with Shatner and co. Some more thoughts:
While I was not sure about the chemistry between the two main characters, I bought into their romance and I especially liked the final scene with La’an: it was an earned moment and the actress was very effective in her delivery. I wish the two had spent some more time talking about what reality they should preserve but I guess saving your brother’s life is a good enough reason to risk everything. I would’ve done the same, tbh. Time shenanigans needn’t be explained, honestly I can believe that the Augment Wars were so destructive that we don’t know many things about the period; could’ve been in the 90s, could’ve been in the 21st century, there are real life examples of such gaps in the historical record, after all (and don’t tell me Sarah Silverman was around for the rise of Khan). Still, a welcome reference.
I love Pelia, the accent, the delivery, the character backstory, it’s all really good and she is a very nice addition to the cast. I laughed when she didn’t know anything about engineering but it makes perfect sense. Imagine going back in time and asking a 10 year old Einstein to explain relativity to you!
With the positive out of the way, I have to say that I liked the first half of the episode more than the second for the following reasons:
I think they broke into that facility pretty easily. Why did the door open in response to La’an’s DNA? Isn’t Khan just a little kid? Can he enter and leave as he pleases? I thought he was like an experiment they are trying to keep under wraps.
I did not like the antagonist lady and I especially don’t like the suggestion that Romulans have been secretly trying to keep humanity from reaching greatness. I always thought that one of the most important messages in the franchise was that humans were able to rise above their flaws and create a utopia but now it’s the Romulans who were keeping us down and we managed to reach the stars even against these odds. How inherently great humanity is… Not a good message, imo, but perhaps the antagonist lady was simply exaggerating.
Overall a good episode. Kinda lost me in the second half but the final scene was a strong conclusion. Honestly, I can see myself re-watching this in the future.
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....
The fifth TNG movie that never was ( memory-alpha.fandom.com )
Spiner himself explained,...
Episode Discussion | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | 2x03 "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow"
::: spoiler Logline La’An travels back in time to twenty-first-century Earth to prevent an attack which will alter humanity’s future history—and bring her face to face with her own contentious legacy. :::...