I assume McCoy requested him because of his expertise in Vulcan physiology. M’Benga accepted because of his past service on the ship and the as mentioned fondness. Perhaps he’s even a civilian now.
What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?
- Thread starter Amasov
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Yep. We never see M'Benga with rank braids in either episode, just the short-sleeved medical tunic. For all we know he's no longer in Starfleet proper and just volunteered to return to the Enterprise upon McCoy's request.
I'll yield to what the fans of the show think. You're more in-tune with SNW than I am. I know how I'd feel when explaining my take on something from DSC or PIC with someone who isn't as in-tune with those shows as I am. So, it's something I can understand. Putting the shoe on the other foot and realizing it works both ways, I have to admit you probably get SNW in ways that I don't.
M'Benga was hardly a character on TOS. He appeared in only two episodes, he was used exclusively for the purpose of plot-related info-dump, and the only thing we learned about his past or him as a person, that he interned on a Vulcan ward, was related to us by McCoy.
Literally anything done with him fleshes him out as a character. On TOS, he was basically an NPC, only one step above Lt. Palmer since we learned nothing about her as a person in dialog.
Literally anything done with him fleshes him out as a character. On TOS, he was basically an NPC, only one step above Lt. Palmer since we learned nothing about her as a person in dialog.
Those in an armed, militarized uniformu service are often assigned where to serve. They follow orders.
Was M'Benga ever referred to by rank on TOS? If not, he could have left Starfleet and still service Starfleet as a civilian contractor or consultant.
Yeah, I thought of Lt. Palmer when I read Gene's memo about "We HAVE a nurse and her name is Chapel."
Picking M'Benga for SNW was such a weird choice. Only the really die hard fans have any idea who he is. Who are the ones who are going to be pissed off that he's on Pike's Enterprise and he's substantially older. And the rest of the audience couldn't care less. So it gets you nothing but negatives and no inherent positives.
Nemesis should have been a balls-out TNG, DS9, VOY epic cross over.
Wait. Are you suggesting that in the FINAL movie for a Star Trek cast that some OTHER shows with OTHER stars should appear?
You know, tying all of Star Trek together in one massive finale? Maybe title it after a line from the opening narration? How does that go? "Space, the final frontier. These..."
If you place TNG and DS9 within one movie, you thrust Worf into a locationary dilemma. Torn between two starships, feeling like a fool.
I agree with this 100%. To keep it within Star Trek, and to quote Sisko, "It's not up to me! I go where I'm sent!"
We're all, as an audience, agreeing to Suspend Disbelief during the TOS and TNG Movies.
His rank wasn't referred to in either of his TOS appearances. In fact, we can't even see his rank because he's wearing the short-sleeve version of the tunic both times.
Then they could've just created a new character.
Part of me wishes they had or had brought back Boyce or Piper, but I can swing the two different M'Bengas being the same character only seven or eight years apart.
I like Boyce, but I can see him retiring between five-year missions, so I don't take issue with that. Piper did nothing for me. The actor for Piper, Paul Fix, was a much better fit when he was in The Rifleman.
It makes me scream when I hear things like JJ saying "We never saw how the whole crew came together!" That's because they probably didn't meet at the same time!
Yeah, but audiences seem to love origin stories. Production companies are going to go where they think the dollars are at.
Yup. Origins have been popular for a while, including Batman Begins, Smallville, and all the furor with Marvel. It's making money and draws people in.
Origin Stories were especially all the rage in the '00s. The JJ Trek Films were just following the trend. After Batman and James Bond were also rebooted, there was no way they weren't doing an Origin Story. It just is what it is. Or rather, it was what it was. I love that The Batman (2022) started with Batman already being two years into being Batman. Hopefully the next Bond Reboot also shows James Bond already established.
What I've liked thus far about the Streaming Trek shows is that, except for Prodigy where there's no way around it, they've avoided having a "This is how we all came together!" episode.
At the beginning of DSC, the crew of the Shenzhou all already know each other. Then the regular cast makes it over to the Discovery, mixed in with a lot of new crew, who've already been serving on Discovery for months, before Burnham arrives.
In PIC, Picard already knew Raffi, Laris, Zhaban, Elnor, and presumably Clancy from when he was an Admiral. He knew the Crusher Family and that Doctor who visisted him in S1 since he was on the Stargazer. He knows the Enterprise-D/E crew from TNG; and (for the most part) one of his connections already knows anyone new he meets.
In SNW, we start off with Pike already having been Captain for almost 10 years. We have a mix of crew from "The Cage", TOS, and totally new characters. Which is what it would look like in 2259. We can argue about who would've been there at that point forever but, in terms of the Big Picture, it would've been a mix no matter what.
I don't remember LD very well, but I think the crew all already know each other; and the Ensigns didn't all join the Cerritos at the same time.
What I've liked thus far about the Streaming Trek shows is that, except for Prodigy where there's no way around it, they've avoided having a "This is how we all came together!" episode.
At the beginning of DSC, the crew of the Shenzhou all already know each other. Then the regular cast makes it over to the Discovery, mixed in with a lot of new crew, who've already been serving on Discovery for months, before Burnham arrives.
In PIC, Picard already knew Raffi, Laris, Zhaban, Elnor, and presumably Clancy from when he was an Admiral. He knew the Crusher Family and that Doctor who visisted him in S1 since he was on the Stargazer. He knows the Enterprise-D/E crew from TNG; and (for the most part) one of his connections already knows anyone new he meets.
In SNW, we start off with Pike already having been Captain for almost 10 years. We have a mix of crew from "The Cage", TOS, and totally new characters. Which is what it would look like in 2259. We can argue about who would've been there at that point forever but, in terms of the Big Picture, it would've been a mix no matter what.
I don't remember LD very well, but I think the crew all already know each other; and the Ensigns didn't all join the Cerritos at the same time.
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I disagree. M'Benga's presence in A Private Little War was significantly more than a minor extra with a couple of lines. He had major dialog and screen time that was important to the story. We gained information about Vulcans through him, and that the Enterprise had more than one medical doctor. There was also a continuation of the show's policy of showing Black characters in meaningful roles. Not a given in the mid 1960's.
Prior to SNW existing, I always figured whoever we see in "Where No Man Has Gon Before" was the crew Kirk inherited from Pike. Then whoever we saw afterwards, would've been assigned to the Enterprise during Kirk's time.
There's an Akira Kurosawa film called Stray Dog (1949), which is about a young detective who gets his gun pickpocketed, and then begins an obsessive quest to find the criminal who took it after the gun is used to commit more crimes.
One of the bits of trivia about the movie is that, in some of the original forms of the script, the movie began with like a 30-40 minute backstory for the characters and the theft of the gun didn't happen until the end of Act 1. However, Kurosawa was convinced the movie should begin with the theft (i.e., one of the first lines of the movie is: "Someone stole your gun?"), and the backstory was unnecessary. That you could learn everything you need to know about the characters through their actions and choices that unfolds throughout the rest of the movie.
I think a fundamental flaw of a LOT of the prequel/origin stories is that they are built around trying to turn what is essentially that unnecessary backstory setup segment into something that feels significant. They tend to underline stuff the audience already knows, instead of offering up something insightful about the story or characters. Because if we know where the story goes, and we're just getting a reiteration of who we know the characters to be from what's already out there, what's the point? Star Trek (2009) I thought tried to mitigate that problem with the prequel but not really a prequel or reboot timeline shenanigans, by both establishing that things will be different (e.g., when Vulcan is destroyed you know you're not in Kansas anymore), and the characters are not exactly the same people (Quinto's Spock is a more emotional character).
That's why I'm somewhat curious as to the news of Paramount's idea for a prequel movie to the Kelvin Universe, and what that would be? Like are we talking about a Kelvin Universe version of Strange New Worlds turned into a 2-hour movie? Or the Earth-Romulan War?
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