Spoilers Strange New Worlds General Discussion Thread

[Jack Wolfe]

But then that raises the question of how he changes races between Strange New Worlds and The Original Series. For me it's not a matter of race, it's a matter of suspension of disbelief, and this is one of those things that makes that hard for me. At least when the new actor is the same race or gender or whatever it's easy to kind of squint and pretend it's the same person, but when there's a bigger difference that's hard to ignore, that becomes a challenge.

Thanks to Shatner, they couldn't even keep his name straight between Kyle and Cowl. It will be fine as long as they don't make him a sentient fern.

 

[cooleddie74]

Meanwhile Mr. Leslie combs his curls and waits for his first closeup. The real hero of the non-regular cast members.

 

[Noname Given]

Yeah, it does seem a bit odd to me to cast a POC to play a character who we've already seen as a white...

What about the OTHER aspects of TAS - "The Counterclock Incident"? I mean are you upset that previous 'modern' Trek ignored the fact that the Aliens in that episode had ships that could travel Warp 36? (Not a typo)

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

Hell, TOS killed off a redshirt in Season 2 and brought him back alive for the final episode for the series. THE SAME CHARACTER.

That's Shaxs power right there!

 

[JD]

You know, thinking about this more, I guess it's really not any different from all the different times we saw the alien makeups get redesigned, or any other retcons that have been introduced into the franchise over the decades.
So, you know what, never mind, bring on the black April and Asian Kyle.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

That's Shaxs power right there!

Well, they say that Shaxs is one bad mother...

 

[Noname Given]

Hell, TOS killed off a redshirt in Season 2 and brought him back alive for the final episode for the series. THE SAME CHARACTER.

Don't forget the redshirt/security guard in TOS S1 - "Devil In The Dark", to whom Kirk gave the order to keep the miners out of the alcove where Spock was Mind-Melding with the Horta; who was later promoted directly to Commodore (Commodore Wesley) ; and was in Command of the Starship USS Lexington (See TOS S2 - "The Ultimate Computer")

 

[cooleddie74]

Lieutenant Galloway. The man so strong even a phaser set to kill and vaporize its target can't keep him from coming back.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

You know, thinking about this more, I guess it's really not any different from all the different times we saw the alien makeups get redesigned

Does that mean we're going to get a two-parter in a prequel to explain it?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Does that mean we're going to get a two-parter in a prequel to explain it?

Augment virus. It's always the Augment virus. Once it turned Khan's multi-ethnic crew into blond haired neo-Aryans.

 

[mswood]

Maybe he pulled a Crusher and left for Starfleet Medical. Except this time when he came crawling back to the Enterprise the new CMO didn't just meekly give up the job like Pulaski did.


As an Asian I have very mixed feelings about Kyle being Asian and the implication this is the TOS Kyle. @Nerys Myk said in another post that this is just a new Asian character also named Kyle, but unless it's his first name Kyle isn't an Asian surname that I'm aware of and there's no point in naming him as such honestly unless to basically say he's the TOS Kyle. I want better Asian representation in my shows but not at the expense of contradicting the previous established canon of another character.

Well I have no issue with characters having none traditional surnames, as it does happen. Be it changing to conform to a new society (less appreciative of that one, but boy am I happy I don't have the same name my great grandparents had, I still can't spell it or say it properly), be it choice (as individuals can change every aspect of their name legally at least in the US, and some people have no tie at all to an family name, and that's a perfectly valid choice for them), or through marriage (though I do wish I saw more men take the others last name, which isn't very common so that would be nice).

And while I would assume the producers are intending it to be either the same character, or an Easter egg to the name, since we literally know no personal details or past of TOS' Kyle we would have no on screen way of confirming this unless they do a time travel episode and specifically put him in a scene that TOS Kyle had previously been it (Like how O'Brien, and Bashir took the place of two extras in Trials and Tribbleations).

 

[cooleddie74]

Augment virus. It's always the Augment virus. Once it turned Khan's multi-ethnic crew into blond haired neo-Aryans.

With hair so luxurious shampoo companies would be trying to sign them to do commercials.

 

[JD]

or through marriage (though I do wish I saw more men take the others last name, which isn't very common so that would be nice).

I like the way Alexa Vega, and her husband Calos Pena handled their last names. They just added the other's to theirs, so they're now Alexa and Carlos PenaVega.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

(though I do wish I saw more men take the others last name, which isn't very common so that would be nice)

That's what I did!

 

[Muji]

If you can’t get past your own prejudices to see a show where everyone has a voice, maybe you should find another sci-fi franchise.

I don't really care that much about the choice they have made regarding April, but this line seems quite underhand and gatekeep-y to me. Those who do care more than me about canonical continuity aren't necessarily prejudiced just because they have an issue with this. They might well have had absolutely no issue with it being a new person and that actor being [insert anything you want]. The issue can quite easily be rooted in desire for continuity and not in prejudice. As for finding another franchise... come on now. This show, like Discovery and Picard, will be very diverse. If we can't allow diversity of opinion without others being told to leave the fandom or pointing accusatory fingers, it's probably not a good sign of our intentions.

 

[Belz...]

Hell, TOS killed off a redshirt in Season 2 and brought him back alive for the final episode for the series. THE SAME CHARACTER.

Mister Leslie?

 

[Belz...]

But then that raises the question of how he changes races between Strange New Worlds and The Original Series.

Only if you think strict continuity is maintained. They changed it, and that's all there is to it.

Do you read comic books? They made these kinds of reality adjustments all the time.

What about the OTHER aspects of TAS - "The Counterclock Incident"? I mean are you upset that previous 'modern' Trek ignored the fact that the Aliens in that episode had ships that could travel Warp 36? (Not a typo)

Different. Warp. Scales.

I don't really care that much about the choice they have made regarding April, but this line seems quite underhand and gatekeep-y to me. Those who do care more than me about canonical continuity aren't necessarily prejudiced just because they have an issue with this.

No but they always seem to have issues when a character is suddenly portrayed as a woman or minority. Strange that.

 

[F. King Daniel]

But then that raises the question of how he changes races between Strange New Worlds and The Original Series. For me it's not a matter of race, it's a matter of suspension of disbelief, and this is one of those things that makes that hard for me. At least when the new actor is the same race or gender or whatever it's easy to kind of squint and pretend it's the same person, but when there's a bigger difference that's hard to ignore, that becomes a challenge.

I know it's an ugly word, but I think it's fair to call SNW a reboot. There's nothing wrong with that, it's a modern version of TOS. Looks different, sensibilities are different. It's undoubtedly connected to the larger Trekverse (check out that SNW Enterprise in Picard S1, for example) but in a more vague way than Trek's before. Fine for the "it's only a TV show" crowd but more difficult for those who collect books comparing starship specs, read character profiles and fixate on the details. I'm really curious how fandom would react to a female Chekov or Scotty now.

Comic book movies do "racelifting" quite a bit, but to my knowledge it's always been separate continuities where these differences (OTOH, Perry White in Man of Steel and Batman V Superman) occur.

 

[Mudd]

Those who do care more than me about canonical continuity aren't necessarily prejudiced just because they have an issue with this.

This much is true, to the extent that obsessive concern with the minutiae of Trek continuity is representative of a certain turn of mind, a way of thinking about things in general that, frankly, makes much in life challenging for folks who exhibit it. It's not necessarily about "racism" in all cases, but about a compulsive need to find order and predictability in all things.

But you know what? Most folks who do come at it from this angle adjust their thinking when they must, however uncomfortably, and get over it. They don't usually fly into rages, or declare a thing Ruined Forever, or post remarks larded with political buzzwords, gibberish and garbage dog-whistling about "cultural vandalism," "SJWs" and the like.

To single out a particular poster's remarks - which I'm happy to do - valden is not necessarily a racist for objecting to April being cast in a way that they perceive as out of line with expectations that they've derived from watching Trek itself. But framing the matter as an offense of "wokefulness" is absolutely a tell that they're raising a politically/ideologically motivated objection* rather than an honest concern about the artistic integrity or internal logic of the show. And posters who do that will always face hostility from posters who find such ideology reprehensible.

*Still not calling them a racist here and have no intention of implying such. Please note.

 

[Campe]

I was working on a response, but as always @Serveaux said what I wanted far more eloquently. So as opposed to muddying the waters, I’ll just say: “What he said.”