• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

New Talosians?

Most likely because they weren’t realistic from a biological perspective. The main artists were judges on Face/Off and this was a major deal in makeup effects. The new design shows they have large brains, but that they had skulls to protect them. The originals looked like skin directly over brain tissue, which would cause damage if they even touched their heads. If you’re going to have a huge brain, you need a skull to protect it. They actually do a lot of research into anatomy and biology in order to make more convincing designs. Something that probably didn’t go into the original. They look like they have large tumors instead of brains. I keep expecting them to flop over and kill them. Now they look like a species that evolved or engineered themselves to have large brains.
I think they were trying to downplay the EVIL BRAIN ALIENS look of the originals and add a bit of alien-ness to the otherwise human design. Most of the brain is as accessible as the originals (which could also be under a skull, but I get what you're saying), the nose ridge doesn't do that much to protect it, and the crux of their unsettling evolution is that it goes away from concerns of the body in favor of the mind and which one imagines is a viable trade-off if they're to be especially intimidating – it's okay that they're easy targets because you'll rarely get anywhere close before they get to you.

I didn't mind the nose ridge that much, but something about the makeup just didn't ring as lifelike as the original. The originals we look at through a 60's lens and can forgive some of its shabbiness, but even so, they're just freakier.
 
Not only are they Talosians (and Vina!), but the episode opened with "Previously on Star Trek..." using footage from "The Cage". So they're showing the original versions of everything side by side with the new reimagined ones.
I think they did a great job. I don't need it to look exactly like a show from the 60s. I could totally suspend disbelief and see this as the same Talosians as in The Cage. I can imagine this is how they really looked, but they didn't have the technology and budget to show us.
 
I think they were trying to downplay the EVIL BRAIN ALIENS look of the originals and add a bit of alien-ness to the otherwise human design.

Understandable. I did prefer the pulpy look of them before but I understand the new look too.
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
exposed brain hollywood uber-intelligent telepathic monster creatures are mostly a thing of the past.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
mostly
 
The brilliance of casting small thin women as the original Talosians certainly helped make them feel more alien because they appeared frail compared to Pike. These don't look at all enfeebled.

Yeah, I think that went right over the DSC producers' heads. Perhaps along with the idea that the Keeper was played by a woman with a man's voice overdubbed. But then again I haven't seen the episode yet so I don't know if they did that. But the DSC Keeper certainly looks like a guy to me.
 
Last edited:
Vina is very toned down. And doesn't appear to have the physical deformities the Cage Vina had. I liked the episode a lot, but it really doesn't make sense to me that in 2257 Federation science can't do anything about Vina's scarring (since it clearly is massively important to her to be attractive).
I was hoping they would do something to subtly walk back Pike's comment that he agreed with Vina's resons for staying. They had just said they'd rather die than live in captivity. Apparently being slightly disfigured is even worse than death. She seemed to be able to get around without a wheelchair and take care of her basic needs. Many people more disabled than that live happy lives. In my head cannon her disfigurement causes severe pain and limited mobility, although it's not shown in the episode.
 
I was hoping they would do something to subtly walk back Pike's comment that he agreed with Vina's resons for staying. They had just said they'd rather die than live in captivity. Apparently being slightly disfigured is even worse than death. She seemed to be able to get around without a wheelchair and take care of her basic needs. Many people more disabled than that live happy lives. In my head cannon her disfigurement causes severe pain and limited mobility, although it's not shown in the episode.
It may not be the last we see of her. I think it could work by just having her in constant pain without them. That's why Pike later joins them, almost like an euthanasia theme. Just allowing someone in a severe state to be allowed to choice to be able to end it.
 
but something about the makeup just didn't ring as lifelike as the original

It's the shape of the cranium, imo. On the originals, the widest part of the skull is about level with their eyes. On the new design, the widest part is up near the top of the skull, well above the normal top of a human head. It makes them look less like humanoids with giant brains and more like they're wearing fleshy beefeater hats.
 
It's the shape of the cranium, imo. On the originals, the widest part of the skull is about level with their eyes. On the new design, the widest part is up near the top of the skull, well above the normal top of a human head. It makes them look less like humanoids with giant brains and more like they're wearing fleshy beefeater hats.
That could be part of it. Again they looked more Vian than Talosian. But I think it’s also the silicone material. I noticed it on the Andorian too. There’s a falseness to it.

The coloring seems off too...I dunno. They don’t need to be human looking, but they didn’t seem lifelike.
 
They didn't even try to give the Talosians the same type of voice either! They just went ahead and wallop! New deep masculine voice! Plus, the original episode gave us a race of aliens determined to restart life on their planet's surface at whatever cost and punish Pike severely when he wouldn't confirm, so why were these new guys so helpful and acquiescent? I think they were only brought back to garner ratings and the writers just didn't get them one bit!
JB
 
They didn't even try to give the Talosians the same type of voice either! They just went ahead and wallop! New deep masculine voice! Plus, the original episode gave us a race of aliens determined to restart life on their planet's surface at whatever cost and punish Pike severely when he wouldn't confirm, so why were these new guys so helpful and acquiescent? I think they were only brought back to garner ratings and the writers just didn't get them one bit!
JB
They gave up in the end and started being nice to Vina, who definitely had more of a psychological than a physical problem. Also, they updated their look because they got bored of the old one. Problem solved. We can all move on, now. ;)
 
I think they were only brought back to garner ratings...

Are there really that many people still around that even know of "The Cage" or Talos IV? Discovery isn't about ratings, it can get by with relatively small loyal base, so they are feeding that base exactly what they think they want.
 
Most likely because they weren’t realistic from a biological perspective. The main artists were judges on Face/Off and this was a major deal in makeup effects. The new design shows they have large brains, but that they had skulls to protect them. The originals looked like skin directly over brain tissue, which would cause damage if they even touched their heads. If you’re going to have a huge brain, you need a skull to protect it. They actually do a lot of research into anatomy and biology in order to make more convincing designs. Something that probably didn’t go into the original. They look like they have large tumors instead of brains. I keep expecting them to flop over and kill them. Now they look like a species that evolved or engineered themselves to have large brains.
God, I love a good elucidation.
:techman:
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top