Spoilers Strange New Worlds 1x01 - "Strange New Worlds"

[cooleddie74]

Eh. The Twin Towers are burning in the background display of Earth historical images as the Temporal Cold War is coming to an end along with a clip of Osama bin Laden. The CGI nukes going off are no more nor less hamfisted than wedging 9/11 into an episode of Trek as a background image.

 

[Amaris]

I actually never saw it, but am familiar with it.

Well, if you get the chance to see it, I recommend it. It's a damn good film, with lots of good sentiments, and some fun, cheesy stuff too for people who love 1950s sci-fi, though this one does an excellent job of playing it straight, and Michael Rennie (Klaatu) is wonderful in the role.

 

[ToddCam]

This is super gay of me, but I was quite disappointed to see Spock shaved his chest alongside his beard.

 

[Sci]

I didn't get that implication at all

I mean, they literally showed footage of Trump supports holding "Audit the Vote" signs and storming the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021 as Pike described how things went south.

The black death killed, in some places, 30% or even 50% of the population, and not only did the economy survive, it was transformed and bloomed.

Trying to keep 30 million people alive after a plague that does not affect physical infrastructure or ecology is a very different question than trying to keep 5 billion people alive when nuclear weapons have devastated your physical infrastructure and your ecology.

I completely disagree. DS9 challenged and battered the Trek philosophy, and saw it triumph.

So did DIS and PIC.

The challenges were hard, but the characters didn't spend entire half-seasons brooding and moping.

Characters on DS9 spent a larger percentage of their time moping than you're implying, and characters on DIS and PIC spend a smaller percentage of their time moping than you're implying.

 

[Sakonna]

Spock has a hairy chest in Tos!! Come on!!

This is super gay of me, but I was quite disappointed to see Spock shaved his chest alongside his beard.

Also super gay of me, but I was literally coming here just to post that as my biggest complaint of the pilot!

I mean, essentially my only complaint. I guess I also didn't like some of the hairstyling?

Otherwise, this was pretty damn perfect. I haven't been this charmed by a full Trek cast since DS9's premiere. Brilliant casting all around. And a fabulous script.

I wasn't really sure how Young Chapel would work in practice, but Jess Bush banished my skepticism practically in her first line. What a charming take on that character.

Can't wait for next week!

 

[ToddCam]

Love the cast, but there is a Canon violation!!
Spock has a hairy chest in Tos!! Come on!!

Ethan Peck as Spock in Discovery also had a hairy chest. So they were "contradicting" canon even within just streaming era Trek. Of course, Spock probably just decided to shave his chest recently (maybe T'Pring has a preference?) and would grow it back by the time he's Leonard Nimoy.

 

[captainkirk]

I guess I also didn't like some of the hairstyling?

I forgot to say that I'm not a fan of Spock's hair. I think his bearded look in DIS was actually better and I wouldn't mind if they kept that.

 

[Sakonna]

And to offer another super-gay note... it was when Pike said "Are you naked, Spock?" that I thought to myself "this show is going to work out juuuust fine..."

I love Disco & Picard, flaws and all, but the energy SNW seems to be bringing has been sorely missing from the franchise. How delightful to have all these shows.

 

[Sci]

I don't really like the hairstyling either, but it's clearly inspired by the haircut Leonard Nimoy had in "The Cage."

I love Disco & Picard, flaws and all, but the energy SNW seems to be bringing has been sorely missing from the franchise. How delightful to have all these shows.

It's really nice to have a fun, light-hearted tone back and to see it live alongside, rather than in contention with, the more melancholy tones of DIS and PIC. We need both sides of the pendulum.

 

[Sakonna]

Ethan Peck as Spock in Discovery also had a hairy chest. So they were "contradicting" canon even within just streaming era Trek. Of course, Spock probably just decided to shave his chest recently (maybe T'Pring has a preference?) and would grow it back by the time he's Leonard Nimoy.

I forgot to say that I'm not a fan of Spock's hair. I think his bearded look in DIS was actually better and I wouldn't mind if they kept that.

Well, Spock always has the push/pull as he tries to figure out his identity. Let's hope that journey takes him back to Hairy Spock in season 2!

 

[Mr Awe]

Rewatched the episode again! That says a lot because I typically won't rewatch a show for quite some time. But, wow, it's just as good if not better on the rewatch! The few quibbles I had before faded. I just really enjoyed it. Psyched about this series!

 

[Sci]

The UK has a High Court and a Supreme Court. The High Court hears the most serious and sensitive cases when they first go to trial, whereas the Supreme Court is the court of final appeal and deals with constitutional matters. Based on the two references in dialogue we've heard about both in DS9 and SNW, the same arrangement would fit in here.

Plus you'd assume the Federation Court system would blend elements from all the founding members' judicial systems, perhaps High/Supreme are just the English translations of a court system rooted in Vulcan, Andorian or Tellarite tradition.

I like that idea. In particular, if it's rooted in a non-Human legal tradition, that might explain why an entity called a court is essentially serving the function of what we would in our culture think of as the prosecution.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

What a ridiculously likeable cast of characters. This might be the best debut episode of all streaming Trek for me.

 

[ToddCam]

I mean, they literally showed footage of Trump supports holding "Audit the Vote" signs and storming the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021 as Pike described how things went south.

And Pike's speech reflects that his views were clearly not those that would favor the values of Trump and his adherents. Xenophobia being a direct contradiction to the idea of the Federation. Especially when Pike offers a partnership to integrate their society into his own.

 

[Mudd]

No, but the dialogue walks right down middle by declaring the conflict as being between "different ideas of freedom."

It's a tricky tapdance, but they left a lot open to interpretation.

 

[cooleddie74]

Which implies that future historians also view the extremes on both sides as being culpable, whatever we feel about them now.

 

[Mr Awe]

The economic systems of mid-14th century England, Eurasia, and northern Africa were just a mite different from the late stage capitalist system to which many nations currently ascribe today. There may be more flourishing, depending upon the metric one uses to measure actual prosperity, but the system is built on top of a rather precarious foundation that requires continuously expanding resources. As a minor example, look what one stuck ship sitting in a canal managed to do over a matter of days. Honestly, this whole system crashes every roughly 8 to 12 years and has to be fortified with an influx of new capital and resources, a modification of the books, and in 8 to 12 years it does it again because it's entirely built on short term gain.

So no, our system wouldn't survive WWIII and come out flourishing, it would have to evolve into a more robust, secure system. What that is I will leave to the reader, but suffice to say this one isn't it.

Agreed, the current just-in-time inventory mindset increases short term profits but jeopardizes the system by reducing the amount of stock in inventory in case issues arise.

 

[Belz...]

The economic systems of mid-14th century England, Eurasia, and northern Africa were just a mite different from the late stage capitalist system to which many nations currently ascribe today. There may be more flourishing, depending upon the metric one uses to measure actual prosperity, but the system is built on top of a rather precarious foundation that requires continuously expanding resources. As a minor example, look what one stuck ship sitting in a canal managed to do over a matter of days. Honestly, this whole system crashes every roughly 8 to 12 years and has to be fortified with an influx of new capital and resources, a modification of the books, and in 8 to 12 years it does it again because it's entirely built on short term gain.

So no, our system wouldn't survive WWIII and come out flourishing, it would have to evolve into a more robust, secure system. What that is I will leave to the reader, but suffice to say this one isn't it.

You're not wrong. My point is simply that it's impossible to know what would happen. We can only speculate.

 

[Mr Awe]

"Just like you said, whoever has the biggest stick wins. And in this case, that is me."

The only thing better than this line at that moment is the way that Mount delivers it.

It's also seems very Pike-like, in the vein of, "You want me to test my theory on your head?"

 

[ToddCam]

Which implies that future historians also view the extremes on both sides as being culpable, whatever we feel about them now.

I don't get the sense that this was a prepared documentary being presented. I suppose Enterprise could have historians aboard who could make a quick Power Point for Pike's presentation, and they might try to obscure (somewhat poorly) which side was obviously more 'at fault' because history is indeed complex. To me it is akin to saying that slavery was pretty bad, but the North also had its own issues bringing about the first American Civil War.