How would you retcon Strange New Worlds?

I find the Ortegas character irritating because she serves no purpose other than to be the resident wiseass that Pike inexplicably allows to be such. La'an, however, is a different story. I initially didn't think I was going to like her because I assumed she was just going to be analogous to the Alara Kitaan character from The Orville (i.e. super-strong security chief), but it turned out that not only was the whole 'Khan's descendant' thing immediately thrown out the window (and one wonders why she needed to be Khan's descendant in the first place) she got a pretty good backstory and fleshing-out of her character. Ortegas is just cardboard.

 

Ortegas' makes me laugh. Reminds me of Jack O'Neill.

That alone is worth the price of admission.

 

Was it?

 

Some interesting comments here. I'm fine with the show and not interested in retconning it. I wouldn't worry about writer's creativity being hamstrung because they chose to work on a prequel series. If they want more freedom they can work on Picard or whatever future Trek show takes place after it. In the meantime, respect the continuity that has been established and keep working within the parameters the show is set in. It seems to be working pretty well from where I'm sitting.

 

They mentioned it one time at the start of the season and never brought it up again.

I’m glad you find her amusing. I find her annoying and one-dimensional.

 

All judgement is a form of confession

 

L'Aan was invented to be a victim so that all the self identifying victims can identify with her. Get that awful makeup off of her we don't need the Goth audience. She needs to do something besides talk about how the Gorn ate her family. Chapel needs to get away from Spock for quite some time and do something scientific in the sciene lab.

 

Aside from the shaved head, and Laan's ridiculous gothic eyeliner they're great characters. Ortegas has shown us NOTHING but that she thinks she's cute and Laan tells us how her family was eaten. What women on the bridge of this show are "all smiles?" I don't see any. You don't have to scowl all the time in scary makeup to be taken seriously. Remember Kir's charm? Those devlish eyes and his smle? He was still taken seriously.

 

Don’t gatekeep. Everyone (except bigots) are welcome in the fandom.

What’s wrong with shaved heads?

 

Who's Kir?

 

Actually, the season finale left a hint that Ortegas has a personal connection to the Earth-Romulan War, with her behaving like Stiles in TOS. Be that through a lost freighter family, or a Starfleet ancestor posted on 22nd century Jupiter Station, or a colony wiped out by the Romulans. Who knows exactly? Pike also said that the Romulans are blamed for a lot of things, which leaves it open that Ortegas holds resentment about something she thinks the Romulans are responsible for, but are actually innocent.

Its an interesting take on her, since she appeared to be the Sulu of Pike’s Enterprise, until they had Jenna and her switch places in that episode.

 

Thanks for the psychoanalysis, newbie, but I didn't ask for a shrink.

I honestly don't think that was meant to be any character development for Ortegas. She was just fulfilling the role of another person because they didn't want to hire another actor to play Stiles. Ortegas gives the same lines as Stiles did, except the emotions she exhibits in her lines pales in comparison to the original Stiles actor. She was literally just a stand-in.

 

If it wasn’t, then why did they feel it was necessary for Ortegas and Jenna to switch places? Since the Stiles role could have also been played by Jenna.

 

Probably because they wanted to give the better lines to an actual main character rather than a secondary extra?

 

Oh bullshit. She's a heroic character who's dealt with past trauma, but she's far more than her past.

1) That is not goth makeup.

2) Goths are awesome! We should welcome more goths to the fandom.

3) Stop trying to control women's bodies.

She has. You're mischaracterizing her role by implying that that's all she's done.

I don't think it was meant to be character development per se, but I do think this is legit character insight. I think this strongly implies that Ortegas is a hardliner when it comes to Federation security. It would be interesting to see her reaction to the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

EDITED TO ADD:

La'an's head is not shaved. She has a full head of long hair; she just wears it pulled back very tight.

What the hell are you talking about?

Did you seriously just say that La'an needs to smile more?

 

Some of you missed the point of Star Trek so bad it's incredible.

 

Wow. I did not expect that to hit the mark so thoroughly. Oldie.

 

I think I would lessen the amount of legacy characters. Don't get me wrong, I love having Uhura, Chapel, and M'Benga, and I guess Sam Kirk, but, I would have preferred to have a more unique set of characters.

I wish we had Dr. Boyce, Yeoman Colt, and Tyler, so the show felt a little more connected to The Cage. And over time, as we get closer to Enterprise of Kirk's era, we then start to see some of the TOS characters popping up in lower-ranking positions.

But that's honestly the tiniest of nitpicks. It's my favorite of the new Trek shows and I think it's done a remarkable job so far.

 

Not sure what your problem is, but I’m going to nicely ask you to knock it off now.