Hey guys,
There's been a lot of discussion about the increasing frequency of "gimmick episodes" in SNW, so I thought I'd take a look across the series to see if we can peg their origin.
We might have different definitions of what makes something a gimmick episode, but I think it comes down to one or more of the following three:
Season 1: At first, I thought gimmicks were entirely absent from the first season, as most of the episodes are simple sci-fi tales which help to introduce and deepen the characters without much in terms of high concept. The one comedy (Spock Amok) plays with body swap tropes, but isn't what I'd call a gimmick. And while Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach is a pretty shameless lifting of Omelas into Star Trek, it's enough of a deep cut that I don't think It counts. The Elysian Kingdom plays with some fantasy tropes, but it doesn't feel that far out of the standard Trek wheelhouse. But the obvious answer here for a first gimmick outing is All Those Who Wander, as it's pretty transparently just guided by the desire to do Alien within Trek, hammering away at what was already established regarding the Gorn until they somehow could work here. I think it's the sole real gimmick. (1 episode)
Season 2: The two clear big swings were Those Old Scientists and Subspace Rhapsody, which were both gimmicky concepts (crossover and musical), but ended up being among the greatest successes of the series, building up quite a lot of confidence on the part of the writing team. Aside from that, though the season was pretty normal Star Trek. The other comedy (Charades) had a silly concept, but wasn't really a gimmick, and the rest of the season was a mixture of character drama and a few high-octane action outings. (2 episodes)
Season 3: The gimmicking and the genre play began to snowball here. We get zombies (Shuttle to Kenfori), a holodeck murder mystery meant as a love letter to TOS's production (A Space Adventure Hour), and an in-universe documentary (What is Starfleet?). One can argue that The Sehlat Who Ate its Tail was a gimmick of a sort (albeit an effective one) since it seems constructed to be a backdoor pilot of sorts for Year One. I will say though that although it was an awful episode, Four-and-a-Half Vulcans is not really a gimmick - it just continues the pattern of Spock-centered comedies that deal with body transformation. (3 episodes)
Season 4: Seems like we've reached critical mass. In the first half of the season, at least four out of the five episodes are constructed with the "What if _____ in Star Trek?" concept, making them gimmicks, regardless of how effective/ineffective they are. While Valles Marineris is arguably not a gimmick, it plays so heavily on Barsoomian tropes I'd argue that it's from the same wheelhouse. And we know in the back half at the very least Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass and Once La'an a Time will be big swings as well. (6 episodes - maybe even more).
What I conclude here is gimmicks and/or "big swings" really don't seem to have taken off until this season. People complained about them last season, but TBH, there weren't that many more than in Season 2. It's just that Season 3 just wasn't very good for unrelated reasons (a bad comedy outing, too much focus on romances, an attempt at a season arc that went nowhere, etc.)
There's been a lot of discussion about the increasing frequency of "gimmick episodes" in SNW, so I thought I'd take a look across the series to see if we can peg their origin.
We might have different definitions of what makes something a gimmick episode, but I think it comes down to one or more of the following three:
- An episode which takes a big swing outside of the core Trek wheelhouse.
- An episode which can be broadly summarized as "What if ____, but in Star Trek."
- An episode which is very clearly meant as a homage to some other form of media.
Season 1: At first, I thought gimmicks were entirely absent from the first season, as most of the episodes are simple sci-fi tales which help to introduce and deepen the characters without much in terms of high concept. The one comedy (Spock Amok) plays with body swap tropes, but isn't what I'd call a gimmick. And while Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach is a pretty shameless lifting of Omelas into Star Trek, it's enough of a deep cut that I don't think It counts. The Elysian Kingdom plays with some fantasy tropes, but it doesn't feel that far out of the standard Trek wheelhouse. But the obvious answer here for a first gimmick outing is All Those Who Wander, as it's pretty transparently just guided by the desire to do Alien within Trek, hammering away at what was already established regarding the Gorn until they somehow could work here. I think it's the sole real gimmick. (1 episode)
Season 2: The two clear big swings were Those Old Scientists and Subspace Rhapsody, which were both gimmicky concepts (crossover and musical), but ended up being among the greatest successes of the series, building up quite a lot of confidence on the part of the writing team. Aside from that, though the season was pretty normal Star Trek. The other comedy (Charades) had a silly concept, but wasn't really a gimmick, and the rest of the season was a mixture of character drama and a few high-octane action outings. (2 episodes)
Season 3: The gimmicking and the genre play began to snowball here. We get zombies (Shuttle to Kenfori), a holodeck murder mystery meant as a love letter to TOS's production (A Space Adventure Hour), and an in-universe documentary (What is Starfleet?). One can argue that The Sehlat Who Ate its Tail was a gimmick of a sort (albeit an effective one) since it seems constructed to be a backdoor pilot of sorts for Year One. I will say though that although it was an awful episode, Four-and-a-Half Vulcans is not really a gimmick - it just continues the pattern of Spock-centered comedies that deal with body transformation. (3 episodes)
Season 4: Seems like we've reached critical mass. In the first half of the season, at least four out of the five episodes are constructed with the "What if _____ in Star Trek?" concept, making them gimmicks, regardless of how effective/ineffective they are. While Valles Marineris is arguably not a gimmick, it plays so heavily on Barsoomian tropes I'd argue that it's from the same wheelhouse. And we know in the back half at the very least Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass and Once La'an a Time will be big swings as well. (6 episodes - maybe even more).
What I conclude here is gimmicks and/or "big swings" really don't seem to have taken off until this season. People complained about them last season, but TBH, there weren't that many more than in Season 2. It's just that Season 3 just wasn't very good for unrelated reasons (a bad comedy outing, too much focus on romances, an attempt at a season arc that went nowhere, etc.)
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