Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x04 - "Among the Lotus Eaters"

[Captain Jollydark]

Pike confides in Batel about his delta radiation vision, and she realizes that he's told a bunch of people about it. Later on, after a vicious argument, Batel sabotages the warp engine of a cadet ship that Pike is inspecting, knowing that since Pike had already been so chatty about what was going to happen (Number One immediately starts going on about how the foretold accident finally arrived and that Pike claimed it was inevitable), no one would ever suspect that Batel was responsible.

That's more a Janice Lester move.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

But she turns herself in and both prosecutes and defends herself at her tribunal.

And then we learn she was a Talosian illusion the whole time we saw her on screen.

 

[DaveyNY]

Depends on the filler episode. This episode was just boring and I expected more from an Ortegas episode. It was also annoying with all the repetitiveness.

You're completely missing the point of why the "repetitiveness" was an integral part of the story.
Anybody who has a memory loss condition needs that continual reminder to survive and function on a daily basis.

 

[MrShinzoff]

I thought this was excellent. The crew travelled to a strange newish world. There was a weird sci fi concept. There was good character development for Pike. We actually see a violent rage that is clearly present in his character. When he was dealing with the Romulan in S.1. Ep.10 then a large part of him probably wanted to tear up their Bird of Prey.

The Batel relationship works for me. They're two mature, professional people that are probably used to keeping their guard up emotionally. It's not a mad passionate romance and that makes sense.

Melissa Navia was great in this as well. I really liked the insight into Ortegas's character too. She's someone prepared to take responsibility and she saved the ship.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Although it was nothing special and nothing we haven't seen before, I enjoyed this episode.

 

[UssGlenn]

In addition, Ortegas was seemingly able to overcome the effects of the radiation by sheer force of will.

It was showing us how deeply ingrained being a pilot is to her. She doesn't have to rely on her conscious memory, her piloting skills are more like instincts now, so they weren't lost once she calmed down.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Pike says this week in SNW that they were rushing to the Vega colony after the first Rigel mission to ensure Spock didn't become a 4th casualty. Maybe Spock's unique hybrid physiology did require special Vega colony attention for some reason. However, as of the Cage the Rigel incident was 2 weeks ago, Spock was on duty with nothing worse than a limp. Whatever injury Spock suffered, it must have been slow acting that weeks could pass, and also not debilitating enough that he could perform duty as normal throughout the Cage. I'm really wondering what weapon those barbaric, primitive Kalar used, that could produce such a slow acting and specific threat to Spock, now...

Slightly altered timeline, due to our canon savior, the Time Traveling Romulan!

 

[fireproof78]

It was showing us how deeply ingrained being a pilot is to her. She doesn't have to rely on her conscious memory, her piloting skills are more like instincts now, so they weren't lost once she calmed down.

Medically accurate.

 

[JoseNoodles]

Muscle memory is a hell of a thing.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Pike did have one line that caused me to raise an eyebrow, when they were discussing the prior landing party fiasco on Rigel 7.

Words to the effect that they were evacuating with the wounded, and keeping track of their equipment fell by the wayside. Given the Prime Directive, you'd think that equipment inventory (tool control!) would have been of primary importance, and there is probably someone aboard the ship whose job (or at least a collateral duty) centers around that, like a supply chief or yeoman. (One not assigned to the way team!)

As soon as they realized there was equipment left behind, ESPECIALLY WEAPONS, there should have been a secondary mission to retrieve them, even if it went to another ship. And I mean immediately, not five years later. Very sloppy, starfleet! Very sloppy.

 

[fireproof78]

Well, McCoy didn't face any punitive action.

Guess not that important.

 

[Racefuel]

Pike did have one line that caused me to raise an eyebrow, when they were discussing the prior landing party fiasco on Rigel 7.

Words to the effect that they were evacuating with the wounded, and keeping track of their equipment fell by the wayside. Given the Prime Directive, you'd think that equipment inventory (tool control!) would have been of primary importance, and there is probably someone aboard the ship whose job (or at least a collateral duty) centers around that, like a supply chief or yeoman. (One not assigned to the way team!)

As soon as they realized there was equipment left behind, ESPECIALLY WEAPONS, there should have been a secondary mission to retrieve them, even if it went to another ship. And I mean immediately, not five years later. Very sloppy, starfleet! Very sloppy.

Both IRL and in Trek, saving lives takes priority over equipment. If you can get everything out, great, if you can't, destroy it, but not at the expense of saving lives.

 

[JoseNoodles]

Starfleet's always slow to respond. In TNG's "Angel One" some Federation citizens got stranded on Angel One and by the time Picard and crew arrived, they had been on the planet long enough to take wives.

 

[fireproof78]

Starfleet's always slow to respond. In TNG's "Angel One" some Federation citizens got stranded on Angel One and by the time Picard and crew arrived, they had been on the planet long enough to take wives.

Wasn't it 60 years or something?

 

[Racefuel]

Wasn't it 60 years or something?

The freighter had gone missing around 7years before, and it had been 60ish years since Starfleet last made contact with the planet.

Bascially...they told Starfleet to stay away and away they stayed

 

[fireproof78]

The freighter had gone missing around 7years before, and it had been 60ish years since Starfleet last made contact with the planet.

Bascially...they told Starfleet to stay away and away they stayed

Thank you. I had the script mixed up in my head.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

Pike did have one line that caused me to raise an eyebrow, when they were discussing the prior landing party fiasco on Rigel 7.

Words to the effect that they were evacuating with the wounded, and keeping track of their equipment fell by the wayside. Given the Prime Directive, you'd think that equipment inventory (tool control!) would have been of primary importance, and there is probably someone aboard the ship whose job (or at least a collateral duty) centers around that, like a supply chief or yeoman. (One not assigned to the way team!)

As soon as they realized there was equipment left behind, ESPECIALLY WEAPONS, there should have been a secondary mission to retrieve them, even if it went to another ship. And I mean immediately, not five years later. Very sloppy, starfleet! Very sloppy.

That chest was assigned to Robin. Brave Robin.

 

[FreezeC77]

I wasn't a big fan of the ending. Pike violated the Prime Directive yet again in an episode that was supposed to show the 'dangers' of violating the prime directive. Somehow declaring a NATURAL meteor strike was an 'unnatural' impact to the evolution of a species.

The origins of life on Earth may be from a meteor. The ability of humans to evolve and take over the planet is in large part to another meteor wiping out the dominant species on the planet.

Pike altered the development of that planet. They had a way around the memory loss and perhaps in time that exposure would have led to the species developing different mentally because of it.

If I was going to have the meteor removed I would have altered the story have had the meteor actually be an ancient probe by some unknown civilization. The radiation being attempts by the probe to return/report by a signal or something.

That way it would have actually been an artificial impediment to the natural development of this species and tainted by another power so removing it would have been ok... Plus it also would have be a re-emphasis on the dangers of violating the prime directive by showing the damage this other civilization did to this world by some random probe they sent out millenia ago and altered the development of this planet as a result.

 

[cooleddie74]

But a total TOS Era and Kirk kind of action to take to ameliorate the suffering of a society.

 

[JoseNoodles]

But a total TOS Era and Kirk kind of action to take to ameliorate the suffering of a society.

Yep, a very TOS approach to the Prime Directive.