Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 3x04 - "A Space Adventure Hour"

[Mr Awe]

People didn't like it then either, so....


So create new "popular stuff" and have at it. Space is big. Lots bigger than most TV shows like to address. Create new species that Kirk's crew just didn't happen to run into out there. I mean, fans are gonna fan. I also fan at times, so there you go...

Yes! Exactly! Let's go visit some Strange New Worlds!

Not have yet another holodeck malfunction.

 

[DaveyNY]

Heh ... Star Trek writers have been rehashing previous Trek ideas since TMP.

After 50+ years, it's probably time to just go with the flow if one wishes to continue to enjoy the hobby.

 

[TRON JA307020]

He is a documentary maker and, arguably, an expert on Star Trek history. He is an ardent critic of the Kurzman era, and while his criticisms aren't uninformed, he has been a poster child for the Fandom Menace types.

Ah I see. Well the kurtzman era will have to end someday. I suspect after the merger if the star trek shows aren't raking in the money we might see a rest in tv trek for while. I'm OK with that to be honest. If the academy show knocks me over maybe I'll change my mind but so far what I've seen in the trailer isn't giving me any hope.

 

[Mr Awe]

It's not trying to be original - it's tropey, as the kids would say.

If they were aiming for an unoriginal rehash of previous stories, they succeeded.

If this had been the very first holodeck malfunction episode, I'm sure I'd have had a much better reaction to it. But we've seen this story before. Multiple times.

That and the nostalgia overload . . . again.

 

[Mr Awe]

Heh ... Star Trek writers have been rehashing previous Trek ideas since TMP.

After 50+ years, it's probably time to just go with the flow if one wishes to continue to enjoy the hobby.

This episode had some great acting moments for sure. That's why I gave it a 6 rather than a 0.

But outside that, it just wasn't creative. It's like someone fed a prompt into AI saying to create a holodeck malfunction episode and the AI takes the previous ST stories and mushes it into a "new" story. I'm not saying they did that but it seems like it.

And it's the umpteenth one too. And they tried saving it using nostalgia overload.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

And it's the umpteenth one too. And they tried saving it using nostalgia overload.

In spite of the flaws, I think there was an earnest desire to say something about production in the episode. There were at least two stories that were self-referential reflections on how Star Trek emerged, First Contact and Far Beyond the Stars. I suspect that this episode emerged as producers grappled with the cancellation of other Star Trek series in the last 1-2 years

 

[Greg Cox]

I feel obliged to speak up in defense of holodeck episodes. At their best, they can be great fun. "The Big Goodbye," "Our Man Bashir," and "Bride of Chaotica" are among my favorite episodes of TNG, DS9, and VOY, respectively.

Sure, they're something of a Trek cliche these days, but so are Prime Directive dilemmas, space battles, vital diplomatic missions, tense First Contact situations, temporal paradoxes, thinly-disguised topical allegories, and so on. They kinda come with the territory.

Not sure why they're being singled out for scorn. As Trek plot devices go, they have a pretty good track record.

(Full disclosure: I've gone to the "holodeck hijinks" well myself on occasion.)

 

[Detached Nacelle]

I feel obliged to speak up in defense of holodeck episodes. At their best, they can be great fun. "The Big Goodbye," "Our Man Bashir," and "Bride of Chaotica" are among my favorite episodes of TNG, DS9, and VOY, respectively.

Sure, they're something of a Trek cliche these days, but so are Prime Directive dilemmas, space battles, vital diplomatic missions, tense First Contact situations, temporal paradoxes, thinly-disguised topical allegories, and so on. They kinda come with the territory.

Not sure why they're being singled out for scorn. As Trek plot devices go, they have a pretty good track record.

(Full disclosure: I've gone to the "holodeck hijinks" well myself on occasion.)

The problem is they watched it at the wrong time of day.

 

[Pauln6]

I feel obliged to speak up in defense of holodeck episodes. At their best, they can be great fun. "The Big Goodbye," "Our Man Bashir," and "Bride of Chaotica" are among my favorite episodes of TNG, DS9, and VOY, respectively.

Sure, they're something of a Trek cliche these days, but so are Prime Directive dilemmas, space battles, vital diplomatic missions, tense First Contact situations, temporal paradoxes, thinly-disguised topical allegories, and so on. They kinda come with the territory.

Not sure why they're being singled out for scorn. As Trek plot devices go, they have a pretty good track record.

(Full disclosure: I've gone to the "holodeck hijinks" well myself on occasion.)

I smiled instinctively at your list, so yeah, I will drink a toast to Holodeck malfunction. I also laughed a lot during this episode.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Canon should be cavalier at times. TOS often did so in some degree. But, real world will have an impact on these things and now Spock has had 4 love interests...oh my goodness! Stop the presses.

Well mostly because it was the 60's and nobody cared. Plus they were just working it all out. Different TV standards of the day that the follow up shows were usually somewhat more careful about. But, obviously, there were always exceptions. But saying the original series was contradictory sometimes is almost pointless because of the era and expectations of the day. And compared to shows like The Fugitive, which changed important character names and dates episode by episode, Star Trek was practically letter perfect.

I think a lot of folks missed the point here.
Everyone seems to be focusing in on the tale itself and completely missing the deep but obvious thing that the show was actually representing ...

It's all about Star Trek the Television Show.

Whatever the point, if it wasn't boring AF for me, I wouldn't have cared. I may have even appreciated it. I wanted to, I was looking forward to it.

So basically SNW is more like TOS than critics care to admit, as in both cases by the 3rd season they were just having Spock date random pretty women for drama or ratings or whatever

I am frequently amused when people complain about SNW, fans rebut with examples from TOS - usually from the 3rd season or some of the (by the way infrequent) comedy episodes. Considering the traditional disdain the third season holds with many fans, that's not the high bar I think it's intended to be.

"A musical episode?" brings in the Space Hippies.
"Cast in costumes out of character" earns an "A Piece of the Action" mention.
"Goofy shenanigans" calls up "I Mudd."

Not exactly a TOS Greatest Hits playlist.

And of course the majority of the Spock romances listed from TOS come from the third season, as you mention.

If y'all are saying SNW is at least as good as Freddie Freiberger/Arthur Singer Star Trek, or the episodes that got Roddenberry fed up with Gene Coon, great. I may actually agree. Because when SNW is really good, it's some of the best Trek in a long time. But the more they lean into the absurd and indulging themselves, the less I enjoy it. And this season so far has been pretty disappointing for me so far.

 

[tomalak301]

I feel obliged to speak up in defense of holodeck episodes. At their best, they can be great fun. "The Big Goodbye," "Our Man Bashir," and "Bride of Chaotica" are among my favorite episodes of TNG, DS9, and VOY, respectively.

Holodeck episodes could be fun, and really useful. I still point to TNG's A Matter of Perspective and Voyager's Worst Case Scenario and Real Life as the best use of the holodeck from a serious perspective. In terms of fun, Our Man Bashir is one of my favorite episodes, and I've come to appreciate Bride of Chaotica a little more over the years. This episode I just wish the story was much more interesting. It's a Murder mystery. Do the Knives Out approach or something and give us the ending that makes me go "heh" or something (Hard to type that kind of reaction, I know). This one kind of made me roll my eyes a little, and I wish they did more showing than just explain everything at once at the end.

I don't care that they used a holodeck or not before Star Trek. Trip was shown a Holodeck in Enterprise's Unexpected and even got pregnant from it. You don't think in the few hundred years since that episode Starfleet would have trying to perfect their own model? It's the same thing I have with the female Jem'Hadar in the Academy series. A lot of things can happen in several hundred years. Heck, a lot of things can happen in a few years, like how AI just rapidly growing. Now using the TNG design for the holodeck though, that did make me roll my eyes a little. At least try not to be obvious.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

One thing I love about Bride of Chaotica is how much fun the cast are clearly having. In the briefing room when Paris is explaining it all, you can see Tim Russ pushing his tongue into his cheek and biting on it to stop himself from breaking character smiling.

 

[fireproof78]

But saying the original series was contradictory sometimes is almost pointless because of the era and expectations of the day.

Have Trek expectations changed?

I'll grant that I'm an old fuddy in terms of change but my experience, especially in the last ten years or so, in watching shows and seeing episodes a little bit quicker that Inconsistencies stand out, not just in Trek but other shows I enjoy, like MASH, Night Court, Rules of Engagement, among others. Even Firefly adjusted it's writing for Wash towards the end.

So, I guess my expectations are different in that I don't mind Inconsistencies because that's always been apart of my watching experience.

y'all are saying SNW is at least as good as Freddie Freiberger/Arthur Singer Star Trek, or the episodes that got Roddenberry fed up with Gene Coon, great. I may actually agree.

Yup. And there nothing wrong with that. I enjoy those episodes too, at least some of them.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I feel obliged to speak up in defense of holodeck episodes. At their best, they can be great fun. "The Big Goodbye," "Our Man Bashir," and "Bride of Chaotica" are among my favorite episodes of TNG, DS9, and VOY, respectively.

Sure, they're something of a Trek cliche these days, but so are Prime Directive dilemmas, space battles, vital diplomatic missions, tense First Contact situations, temporal paradoxes, thinly-disguised topical allegories, and so on. They kinda come with the territory.

Not sure why they're being singled out for scorn. As Trek plot devices go, they have a pretty good track record.

(Full disclosure: I've gone to the "holodeck hijinks" well myself on occasion.)

It makes us feel "smarter" than the folks who run the shows.

 

[fireproof78]

It make us feel "smarter" than the folks who run the shows.

We have to be smarter than the producers.

Star Trek is created for highly intelligent people by highly stupid people and only the truly brilliant ones can know the difference. The rest are all Herberts.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Have Trek expectations changed?

Did people argue as back in the 60s about canon as they do now? I don't remember this picking up until a few years into TNG. YMMV.

 

[Racefuel]

I know SNW (and LD) sticks in the craw of the "serious Trek only" fans..but *a lot* of both TOS and TNG were light hearted and just..fun goofy stuff.

The world today is pretty rough..it really is, so having some lightness isnt terrible

 

[Nerys Myk]

Did people argue as back in the 60s about canon as they do now? I don't remember this picking up until a few years into TNG. YMMV.

We called them continuity errors back then.

 

[Detached Nacelle]

The rest are all Herberts.

 

[Donald G]

But who is this guy? An ex star trek writer?

No. An ascended fanboy.
Directed and Co-wrote (with Mark A. Altman) the 1998 film, FREE ENTERPRISE.