What do people think of SNW (spoiler free please)

[Damian]

I have to confess I have mixed feelings about the series, even though I expected to adore it. It’s good, but it just doesn’t grab me as much as I feel it should.

The cast is great, although Ortegas is a tad smug for my taste and I could live without her. Anson Mount is a charismatic lead although at times I felt he was on autopilot—but that could be the laid back nature of the character. When the script calls for him to step up he really does. Ethan Peck is superb, and I love Rebecca Romjin, too, and feel she was sadly underused.

The problem so far is the fact that many of plots have been highly derivative, not just of past Trek (“oh, this is their Naked Time episode …this is their Balance of Terror…this is their Masks/generic holodeck episode…this is Balance of Terror again, revisited—quite literally!”) but also liberally “borrows” from other media, including notably “Alien” and an Ursula Le Guinn story. I hope for more originality in the second season —and also a little more creative risk.

Strangely, on one hand it feels like the writers are playing it very safe, determined not to do anything that might incur the wrath of fans and gatekeepers…while at the same time playing it fast and loose with established Trek lore. In some ways I find it easier to take this as a reboot of alternate universe series than something connected to TOS timeline…and I’m fine with that. A lot of that goes down to the changes in personality of existing characters (step forward Nurse Chapel), to race (Kyle will also be a blonde middle aged Englishman to me, sorry) and age (somehow, between the end of SNW and season two of TOS M’Benga will go from a middle aged specialist to a twenty or thirty-something junior doctor). I can live with it though.

For me, there is kind of an MCU feel to tone: it’s often heavy on the banter and quips and some of the 21st century phrases strike a false note with me too (it’s maybe just me but I can’t stand hearing people say “you got this!” It’s an expression that’s only crept in the last few years).

It’s a good series, if not, in my opinion, quite as good as the consensus suggests. It delivered a solid and assured, if derivative, first season. I’m hoping it will develop into something something a bit bolder, a bit edgier, and have less reliance of reusing past plots and, indeed, TOS characters, especially if their reinterpretation doesn’t ring true to the characters we knew. It should be a BIG universe out there. Plenty of scope for new characters. When they release the blu ray I look forward to rewatching and seeing if my opinion changes any.

I’ve noticed a lot fans react very badly to even the slightest criticism of SNW, so throw me your worst, I don’t care. I’ve said what I think and i think it was well balanced and fair criticism.

I think I probably enjoyed it more than you. It is my favorite of the Kurtzman era so far. But I agree with your criticisms also. It can be a better show.

And I thought there were way too many original series characters popping up on a show that takes place, what, 10 years earlier. One or two, ok, maybe a guest role for another. But they were all over the place.

And I agree changing the entire background of a character is a bit over the top, your example of Kyle for instance. Why not just create an original character? It's like they wanted to force in as many original series character names as they possibly could.

In the novels that take place during this era when Pike was captain only Spock and Scotty were serving on board the Enterprise. Everyone else was either who we saw in "The Cage" or original characters. That makes more sense to me. And why aren't we seeing more characters from "The Cage?" That part I don't get.

 

[Mudd]

Because "The Cage" took place quite a few years before this series. Five or six years, at least.

Honestly, it's somewhat surprising that Number One is still Pike's first officer.

The only character who has to have remained aboard the ship all these years to satisfy continuity, other than Pike, is Spock.

Honestly, there are enough callback characters to earlier series, what with Uhura and Chapel and M'Benga and even Kyle, that they don't need to lard the show up with walk-ons who were little more than names to begin with, like Colt. No, I'm not dying of curiosity to "learn more" about characters who were basically name, rank, and assumed-to-have-a-serial-number.

Two things I didn't expect when I started watching SNW:

I didn't expect that Christine Chapel would be one of my two favorite characters;
I would never have imagined that Spock could be made into a fresh and interesting character again, much less recreated as relevant to the present moment in the same way that he seemed to have been in 1966.

 

[fireproof78]

And why aren't we seeing more characters from "The Cage?" That part I don't get.

It's been at several years. They should be reassigned at this point, especially after the Klingon War, and needing more experienced officers.

 

[Dukhat]

I’m finding that I like the La’an character more and more, but I’m completely baffled as to why they needed to make her Khan’s descendant. Besides the continuity issues, there’s really no reason why she needed to be linked to Khan. They mentioned it like, one time, and then never referenced it again. And it’s not like she has any genetically modified abilities, so what was the point?

Ortegas just annoys me. Chapel, while I like her too, does absolutely nothing to evoke TOS Chapel. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your point of view. I’m not really feeling Uhura, but I’m willing to give her time. Hemmer is an interesting character but he doesn’t seem to be in several episodes so it’s hard to feel him out.

As for Spock, I’m definitely starting to like him more than I did in DSC. He still has a bit to go before I get any major Nimoy vibes from him, but Peck’s performance is growing on me.

 

[cooleddie74]

"The Cage(TOS)" takes place over five years before Season 1 of SNW. Just look at the turnover in some crews over that same period of time. DS9 added Worf, lost Jadzia and replaced her with Ezri all in just a few years in-universe as well as in the production of the series.

 

[JamesRye]

My two cents is that it is a step up from the lamentable DISCO, which had an OK season and then just produced drek. It's also better than PICARD, which is stunningly bad so far. I think I may even prefer it over Enterprise, though I have to say that sometimes SNW feels like a fan film. The CG is overly cartoony and the performances a bit hammy.

SNW is of course a massive visual reboot, but at this point, no one cares about canon or consistency. If it weren't Star Trek, then I don't know if it would be doing very well on its own. I really wish that modern Star Trek would try to put a bit of 'science' back into the fiction.

On a trivial point, why can no one sort Spock out with a decent wig and what the heck is up with those sideburns. LMAO.

So, my review can be summed up as damning with faint praise.

 

[Mudd]

Peck isn't wearing a wig on SNW.

Quinto's wigs have been lamentable.

 

[cooleddie74]

One of Peck's best assets is the fact his makeup is minimal and those shaggy, spiky TOS Pilot-style bangs are his own. He's not encumbered by layers of muck and latex.

 

[Sandvich]

First post. Hello, Trek BBS! Stoked to be here. Anyway...

Very brief history, I grew up watching TOS with my dad. 2nd generation Trekker. I loved TNG, my father hated it. Fell in love with DS9 and it is my favorite trek to this day. My Dad hated it. Enterprise came along and we both loved it, despite the time travel goofiness that we both felt killed it. Scott Bakula was a boss captain; Trip was my guy.

My Dad passed away shortly after Enterprise ended. My Trek continues. Feels a little vacant without him to wax philosophical about the latest episode of x-series. I imagine he would have some negative feelings, perhaps indifference about the direction of some of the new shows. I KNOW he would have loved Strange New Worlds, however. My feelings about SNW? My Dad should be here, his death was tragic and preventable. I watch it beside him in spirit. I KNOW he would have loved it as much as I love it. I also wish he could have seen Hell on Wheels with me. When I heard Anson Mount was coming to Star Trek, I knew he would nail it! Bohannon in the Captain's chair!? Yes, please. Man, I watch SNW with personal delight and sentimental attachment. I think it bridges a generational gap. I think it is wonderful. Hope it runs a full 7 and I can't wait to watch it with my daughter when she is cognitive enough to get it.

 

[Deidesheim]

Really my complaint is that the cast is not the same as in the pilot of the original series. It seems like that cast was too masculine for the producers so they had to change it, which is disrespectful to canon. They don't have the right to re-write canon wherever they like for the sake of political correctness. Having number one on the bridge along with a female yeomen would have sufficed for the series because that was already established in The Cage.

 

[fireproof78]

Really my complaint is that the cast is not the same as in the pilot of the original series. It seems like that cast was too masculine for the producers so they had to change it, which is disrespectful to canon. They don't have the right to re-write canon wherever they like for the sake of political correctness. Having number one on the bridge along with a female yeomen would have sufficed for the series because that was already established in The Cage.

Nothing is disrespected. It's 5 years post Cage. Crews change. No disrespect to the canon.

 

[cooleddie74]

Yeah, I'd have brought back José Tyler and Dr. Boyce but the fact they're not there isn't some personal gripe I need to complain about. Besides, there are always guest appearances so there's no issue.

 

[HotRod]

They don't have the right to re-write canon wherever they like for the sake of political correctness

Yes, they do.

 

[Sci]

Really my complaint is that the cast is not the same as in the pilot of the original series.

"The Cage" was set in 2254. SNW S1 is set in 2259. Five years is plenty of time for crew changes.

It seems like that cast was too masculine for the producers so they had to change it,

The fact that there were so few female characters is indeed a flaw of "The Cage" and it is good that SNW does not share that flaw.

which is disrespectful to canon.

Don't be silly.

They don't have the right to re-write canon wherever they like

Yes they do. They own Star Trek and have the right to re-write canon whenever and however they want. It's their property.

for the sake of political correctness.

It's not "political correctness." Having so few women in the cast of "The Cage" genuinely sucks.

Having number one on the bridge along with a female yeomen would have sufficed for the series because that was already established in The Cage.

That would have been a terrible decision creatively. And "respecting canon" is not a valid reason to perpetuate misogyny.

 

[Dukhat]

Really my complaint is that the cast is not the same as in the pilot of the original series. It seems like that cast was too masculine for the producers so they had to change it, which is disrespectful to canon. They don't have the right to re-write canon wherever they like for the sake of political correctness. Having number one on the bridge along with a female yeomen would have sufficed for the series because that was already established in The Cage.

So you would rather have Anson Mount’s Pike be a sexist asshole who desires to get into the Orion Animal Women slave trade business?

 

[F. King Daniel]

Really my complaint is that the cast is not the same as in the pilot of the original series. It seems like that cast was too masculine for the producers so they had to change it, which is disrespectful to canon. They don't have the right to re-write canon wherever they like for the sake of political correctness. Having number one on the bridge along with a female yeomen would have sufficed for the series because that was already established in The Cage.

Obvious datedness of a mostly-male crew and sexist Pike aside, SNW is set years after "The Cage", plenty of time for crew to change.

 

[Deidesheim]

So you would rather have Anson Mount’s Pike be a sexist asshole who desires to get into the Orion Animal Women slave trade business?

True he did make a comment about regretting having a female yeomen, but even Kirk made the comment that he's not used to women being on the bridge if I'm remembering right. I don't expect the sexism to come through in a new series, I just expected the same characters. I looked more into it and I realized that Strange New Worlds doesn't take place exactly the same time as The Cage, so I can give some leeway that the cast is different, though that would be quite the turnover by the time of The Cage.

 

[Dukhat]

True he did make a comment about regretting having a female yeomen, but even Kirk made the comment that he's not used to women being on the bridge if I'm remembering right. I don't expect the sexism to come through in a new series, I just expected the same characters. I looked more into it and I realized that Strange New Worlds doesn't take place exactly the same time as The Cage, so I can give some leeway that the cast is different, though that would be quite the turnover by the time of The Cage.

You are not remembering right. Pike regretted that his male yeoman was killed on Rigel VII. And the rest of the dialogue goes like this:

PIKE: Yeoman.
COLT: Yes, sir.
PIKE: I thought I told you that when I'm on the bridge...
COLT: But you wanted the reports by oh five hundred. It's oh five hundred now, sir.
PIKE: Oh, I see. Thank you.
NUMBER ONE: She's replacing your former yeoman, sir.
PIKE: She does a good job, all right. It's just that I can't get used to having a woman on the bridge. No offense, Lieutenant. You're different, of course.

 

[Deidesheim]

You are not remembering right. Pike regretted that his male yeoman was killed on Rigel VII. And the rest of the dialogue goes like this:

PIKE: Yeoman.
COLT: Yes, sir.
PIKE: I thought I told you that when I'm on the bridge...
COLT: But you wanted the reports by oh five hundred. It's oh five hundred now, sir.
PIKE: Oh, I see. Thank you.
NUMBER ONE: She's replacing your former yeoman, sir.
PIKE: She does a good job, all right. It's just that I can't get used to having a woman on the bridge. No offense, Lieutenant. You're different, of course.

Thank you for the correction, you know your stuff. I didn't look up the script before posting.

 

[Jinn]

I looked more into it and I realized that Strange New Worlds doesn't take place exactly the same time as The Cage, so I can give some leeway that the cast is different, though that would be quite the turnover by the time of The Cage.

Considering that only four characters carried over from "Where No Man Has Gone Before" to the rest of TOS I don't think SNW using only three characters from "The Cage" is unprecedented.