Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x05 - "Charades"

[Kamen Rider Blade]

This is pretty much how I've come to view it, although I tend to completely disregard JJ-Trek. It was just too far off-base and silly for me.

That's why it's a "Alternate Reality" & not just a "Parallel Universe".

Too much has changed due to Time travel by Nero and the Narada that was enhanced by "Borg Tech".

Their universe got altered in such a fundamental way that it branched off and isn't parallel to our Neo-Prime Timeline.

Altering someone's DNA just like that should be a bigger deal than is presented here. For one thing TOS established Spock's heart was where his liver in a human would be or something like that. He should be on the ground writhing in agony after Christine injects him.

Considering that M'Benga and Chapel obviously have no idea how to completely alter someone's DNA, curing Spock should've been a bigger deal. Starfleet Medical swarming in, etc. M'Benga and especially Chapel being bombarded with questions and interviews. The fellowship thing would've been an afterthought if it was even remembered.

And we also have this question of why no one uses this tech ever again. A certain Geordi La Forge born with a congenital disability certainly would have benefited.

A certain B'ellana Torres getting split into two people, one Klingon, one human would've benefited from this.

 

[Jedi Marso]

Altering someone's DNA just like that should be a bigger deal than is presented here. For one thing TOS established Spock's heart was where his liver in a human would be or something like that. He should be on the ground writhing in agony after Christine injects him.

Considering that M'Benga and Chapel obviously have no idea how to completely alter someone's DNA, curing Spock should've been a bigger deal. Starfleet Medical swarming in, etc. M'Benga and especially Chapel being bombarded with questions and interviews. The fellowship thing would've been an afterthought if it was even remembered.

And we also have this question of why no one uses this tech ever again. A certain Geordi La Forge born with a congenital disability certainly would have benefited.

Heh. Nobody discards last week's wonderous discoveries and new technologies like episodic Trek can. Nobody.

 

[Unique]

Maaaybe. Spock literally wasn't himself (as in half his DNA was altered) when he made the decision and it's unfair for T'Pring to blame him for something he did when he wasn't himself. It'd be like Spock blaming T'Pring for something she did after her juice was spiked with Romulan ale.

Also, if T'Pril is such a speciest, how the hell did she agree to her child being betrothed to Spock (TOS established this happened when they were kids) and why would Sarek and Amanda go with them? There wasn't a single more open minded Vulcan couple out there with a daughter for Spock to be betrothed to? Really?

I should clarify that I was agreeing with his interpretation of T’Pring’s perspective, not agreeing that her perspective was wholly correct. She was focusing on her perception that he didn’t trust her and she was left out while all his friends knew what was going on, and yes, anyone would be upset about that. I can see how that would be a major issue for her, and also see how Spock wouldn’t want to dump that situation on her when she was already completely exhausted from dealing with her mother. Emotionally, it was a Kobayashi-Maru scenario and he did the best he could at that point. I think she’d be able to see that after she gets over the shock. But now there’s Chapel, so…

They kind of explained T’Pring’s family wanting the connection with Sarek, but I don’t recall any motivation for Sarek’s family to reciprocate that. There should be one, or it’s nothing but lazy writing to create pointless drama.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I think she’d be able to see that after she gets over the shock. But now there’s Chapel, so…

I swear, they intentionally created the Ross/Rachel "We were on a Break" situation all over again.

 

[Yistaan]

A certain B'ellana Torres getting split into two people, one Klingon, one human would've benefited from this.

Torres: I don't want my daughter growing up looking Klingon and having a horrific life like me! I want her to be human!

Paris: You can't do that to our daughter!

Torres (jabs Miral with hypospray): Too late.

Paris: **** Christine Chapel and her instant DNA altering method. Good thing I can also do the same and change Miral back.

Miral: Waaahhhh!!

 

[Captain Jollydark]

Honestly, I was expecting a lot of pushback on this episode so I'm pleasantly surprised. I loved it. Laughed a bunch.
Things I loved:
1. Spock's delusional confidence at how well he's managing.
2. The plausible reason the Kerkovians(?) altered his DNA - assuming it was the result of an injury suffered in the crash and using a healthy person to "correct" the injuries.
3. He's angry, annoyed, scared, touched, etc. AND hungry for some reason. Welcome to humanity, my friend.
4. Bacon. Spock shoveling bacon into his gob - because when you fall off the vegetarian wagon, bacon is often the trigger. (Sometimes as a former vegetarian I get a little queasy at the thought of Spock wearing leather, or eating food cooked where meat is also prepared. But bacon is glorious. Also I'm hoping it's lab grown.)
5. That conversation with La'an about human adolescence. Comedy gold. Also the way he looked when he started having sexual thoughts about her.
6. Losing it over Sam Kirk's dirty dishes.
7. That stupid hat.
8. Spock's mommy and how he defends her and comes to understand her better.
9. T'Pring's outfit!
10. Uhura and Ortegas giving Chapel the what for.
11.The disorienting beauty of the alien world in contrast with their pragmatic customer service approach to human intrustion.
12. Spock screaming into a towel.
The emotional impact of events were deep and consequential and not played for comedy despite it being a comedy. That was right.

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Torres: I don't want my daughter growing up looking Klingon and having a horrific life like me! I want her to be human!

Paris: You can't do that to our daughter!

Torres (jabs Miral with hypospray): Too late.

Paris: **** Christine Chapel and her instant DNA altering method. Good thing I can also do the same and change Miral back.

Miral: Waaahhhh!!

You can thank the UFP & it's "Ban on Genetic Editing" for probably burying Christine Chapels discovery and locking it away from the rest of the Medical Universe.

What she did was "Ground Breaking" on so many levels.

 

[Tuskin38]

Very TOS music in the dinner scenes.

 

[Unique]

Something I forgot to mention in my review was this was the Ortegas I wanted last week for the Ortegas episode. She was fun here, didn't seem to have attitude issues, and she still flew the shuttle (I'm Erica Ortegas, and I fly the Ship!!!) in the end. That scene when they were teaching Spock how to be a Vulcan was hilarious.

YES! She was fun and likable here, and I loved the shot of her using the manual controls in the shuttle.

 

[Captain Jollydark]

Also, if T'Pril is such a speciest, how the hell did she agree to her child being betrothed to Spock (TOS established this happened when they were kids) and why would Sarek and Amanda go with them? There wasn't a single more open minded Vulcan couple out there with a daughter for Spock to be betrothed to? Really?

I think it's been established Sarek and his family are REALLY BIG DEALS. Prestigious alliances can trump all else in cultures that value them.

 

[Yistaan]

Next week--

Chapel: Hey Chancellor L'Rell, look what I have here (waves hypospray). A complete DNA alteration method. The cure to the Klingon Augment Virus. What'll you give me for it?

L'Rell:

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

That conversation with La'an about human adolescence. Comedy gold. Also the way he looked when he started having sexual thoughts about her.

Any Teenager (Even former Half Human/Vulcan hybrids) would have that kind of though about La'an.

Have you seen her? She's a Beauty Queen disguised as the Chief Security Officer.

Literally, the entire cast is filled with Beautiful Women across the bridge crew.

Rebecca Romijin, legendary Super Model turned Actress.
A Legendary Beauty that spanned 30+ year career and still going strong.

Christina Chong, a ½ Chinese / ½ English gorgeous actress.
Similar to Chloe Bennet being ½ Chinese / ½ American.
Bi-Racials tend to grow up being extra beautiful.

Jess Bush is a literal actress & model

Celia Rose Gooding is gorgeous & busty, similar to how Nichelle Nicols was back in her youth.

Melissa Navia is adorable, tiny & petite.

Carol Kane, you can tell she was a beauty when she was in her prime.

 

[Captain Jollydark]

What an awful fucking episode. The character of Spock is literally too good for shit like this and "Spock Amok", it diminishes the character to keep giving him focus episodes like this. Strange New Worlds does comedy about as well as Voyager does romance, meaning its fucking terrible at it. Hell, I'd rather rewatch Profit & Lace on a loop then ever do a single rewatch of this episode.

We're halfway through the season and literally all 5 episodes have been trash, Enterprise season 1 had more good episodes (by percentage of overall episodes in the season) then SNW Season 2 will probably end up having. Its just been so disappointing, SNW went from being a return to form for Star Trek in Season 1 to just being Discovery with less crying. At this point I'm just waiting for the LD crossover, although I just saw that one of the hacks who wrote this episode is a co-writer on that, so I doubt it will actually be a good episode.

Oh here it is. I was wondering when the hate would show up.

 

[Unique]

Honestly, I was expecting a lot of pushback on this episode so I'm pleasantly surprised. I loved it. Laughed a bunch.
Things I loved:
1. Spock's delusional confidence at how well he's managing.
2. The plausible reason the Kerkovians(?) altered his DNA - assuming it was the result of an injury suffered in the crash and using a healthy person to "correct" the injuries.
3. He's angry, annoyed, scared, touched, etc. AND hungry for some reason. Welcome to humanity, my friend.
4. Bacon. Spock shoveling bacon into his gob - because when you fall off the vegetarian wagon, bacon is often the trigger. (Sometimes as a former vegetarian I get a little queasy at the thought of Spock wearing leather, or eating food cooked where meat is also prepared. But bacon is glorious. Also I'm hoping it's lab grown.)
5. That conversation with La'an about human adolescence. Comedy gold. Also the way he looked when he started having sexual thoughts about her.
6. Losing it over Sam Kirk's dirty dishes.
7. That stupid hat.
8. Spock's mommy and how he defends her and comes to understand her better.
9. T'Pring's outfit!
10. Uhura and Ortegas giving Chapel the what for.
11.The disorienting beauty of the alien world in contrast with their pragmatic customer service approach to human intrustion.
12. Spock screaming into a towel.
The emotional impact of events were deep and consequential and not played for comedy despite it being a comedy. That was right.

All of this.
This episode may be my favorite so far, and I did not see that coming at all.

(Though I do agree with someone’s point that Spock and Chapel getting together when he’s not completely broken up with T’Pring is a disservice to all three characters.)

 

[Yistaan]

(Though I do agree with someone’s point that Spock and Chapel getting together when he’s not completely broken up with T’Pring is a disservice to all three characters.)

Well that's a human, religiously influenced at that, take on the situation. We don't know what the Vulcan perspective is. For all we know, T'Pring knew about Spock and Chapel all along and said "take a break" as passive permission for Spock and Chapel to get it out of their system.

Vulcans are logical beings and not emotional we're told. As long as Chapel and Spock use protection and don't pop out any kids, T'Pring might logically not see an issue if she and Spock aren't even married yet. Alien values aren't necessarily human ones. We saw that with Denobulans and their polygamous practices for example.

What T'Pring herself does in Amok Time almost getting Kirk killed is far, far worse in my opinion.

 

[Okmyx]

All of this.
This episode may be my favorite so far, and I did not see that coming at all.

(Though I do agree with someone’s point that Spock and Chapel getting together when he’s not completely broken up with T’Pring is a disservice to all three characters.)

Agreed. Spock didn't put the relationship on hold, T'Pring did, she flat walked out on him, not giving Spock a chance to say a word. So I guess Chapel is a revenge thing...

Query: If Vulcan emotions are stronger than human's, wouldn't it be easy for Spock to repress his now fully human emotions?

A personal bias: Enough with the short, tight hairdos! grow 'em and let 'em loose!

 

[Captain Jollydark]

(Though I do agree with someone’s point that Spock and Chapel getting together when he’s not completely broken up with T’Pring is a disservice to all three characters.)

I'm not sure I see it as a disservice to the characters but rather a messy chapter with future consequences in an ongoing story. It is a morally questionable choice that people make in real life. I like seeing them make morally questionable choices. I love that they kissed like crazy at the end. I also love how it's going to come back and bite them both in the ass.

 

[Yistaan]

Query: If Vulcan emotions are stronger than human's, wouldn't it be easy for Spock to repress his now fully human emotions?

They always say that, notably in TNG Sarek. Normal Romulans like Laris and Zhaban seem to contradict that.

I'd argue Vulcans themselves with their repression end up making their emotions more extreme

 

[Unique]

Very TOS music in the dinner scenes.

When Spock made his dramatic revelation, Pike’s expression change and slow turn made me LOL. I

Well that's a human, religiously influenced at that, take on the situation. We don't know what the Vulcan perspective is. For all we know, T'Pring knew about Spock and Chapel all along and said "take a break" as passive permission for Spock and Chapel to get it out of their system.

Vulcans are logical beings and not emotional we're told. As long as Chapel and Spock use protection and don't pop out any kids, T'Pring might logically not see an issue if she and Spock aren't even married yet. Alien values aren't necessarily human ones. We saw that with Denobulans and their polygamous practices for example.

I don’t get that impression from Vulcans, in any series. T’Pring, personally, seems the type to calmly pull a stiletto from her impeccably styled hair and slide it dispassionately into his cheating heart, on principal, then wipe it clean on him, put it back in her hair, and resume her day.

 

[Yistaan]

When Spock made his dramatic revelation, Pike’s expression change and slow turn made me LOL. I


I don’t get that impression from Vulcans, in any series. T’Pring, personally, seems the type to calmly pull a stiletto from her impeccably styled hair and slide it dispassionately into his cheating heart, on principal, then wipe it clean on him, put it back in her hair, and resume her day.

It's strange to say that considering we know she canonically does cheat on Spock with Stonn. So if she finds what Spock does so horrific, why does she then do it herself instead of setting an example of how she feels things should be done?

To be fair, this is a real world issue too where people complain about their opponents' actions and instead of themselves acting how they claim people should, replicate the very actions they claim to despise on the excuse that the other side is already doing it.