Poll Pike vs Lorca

[ITDUDE]

With season 2 almost over, we pretty much seen almost all of Pike (for now..). So who was better? Feel free to define what "better" means to you. You can only pick one. (I know if there were was a 3rd "Both" option a lot would pick that).
May the better captain win!

 

[Kor]

Lorca was kind of the way that I imagined Pike would have been as a captain, before the Mirror Universe reveal, and before we got the Anson Mount portrayal of Pike.

Kor

 

[Campe]

Pike by a landslide. Lorca was a fascinating character until he became a moustache twirling villain. I always liked Chris Pike and was curious about his persona beyond the little we saw. I enjoyed this take on the character.

 

[Vger23]

This is a hard one for me.

Lorca was awesome, because he was just so unexpected and so different from what we've typically seen. He was mysterious and your eyes were locked on him whenever he was on the screen. He was one of the things that really made Season One.

On the other side, you've got Pike, who is completely different from Lorca, but no less captivating. The thing that makes Pike great is that he IS the typical Star Trek captain, but he pulls it off in a very nuanced and captivating way so as to make it fresh and new while not breaking expectations.

Also...they're both played by fantastic performers who have completely owned the role.

 

[Jesse1066]

Both are great characters, well written and well acted, but I'll give this to Pike because he isn't evil.

 

[SolarisOne]

This is a hard one for me.

Lorca was awesome, because he was just so unexpected and so different from what we've typically seen. He was mysterious and your eyes were locked on him whenever he was on the screen. He was one of the things that really made Season One.

On the other side, you've got Pike, who is completely different from Lorca, but no less captivating. The thing that makes Pike great is that he IS the typical Star Trek captain, but he pulls it off in a very nuanced and captivating way so as to make it fresh and new while not breaking expectations.

Also...they're both played by fantastic performers who have completely owned the role.

Lorca was great until they dumbed him down and made him Space Trump. I considered him the closest thing to a canonized Mackinzie Calhoun we were ever going to get. I will never, ever forgive the writers for what they did to Lorca.

Pike's been consistently great from the beginning. There really is no contest, in my mind.

 

[SpocksOddSocks]

Lorca was kind of the way that I imagined Pike would have been as a captain, before the Mirror Universe reveal, and before we got the Anson Mount portrayal of Pike.

Kor

Not certain I quite agree, but I never expected Pike to be just as "clean cut" as they've made him.

I don't dislike Pike like my girlfriend does, but I do see why she finds him a little dull. It almost seems like he's Picard, but with Kirk's sociability.

That said, I think he acts mainly as an anchor to classic Star Trek ideals that a lot of people felt Disco was missing with Lorca.

I haven't voted, because I don't think I can choose. Lorca was more compelling to watch, but Pike ties into the fanwank, and as much as people knock the fanwank, it's called that for a reason. I rather like the fanwank.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Lorca was amazing. Troubled. Angsty. Complex. Not the average Starfleet captain. His crew feared him and he gave few fucks about anything.

Then it turned out not to be because of tragedy and a difficult war, but because he's from a universe where everyone's crazy by default.

So... Pike. He's everyone's Dad and a bit Ned Flanders, but damn good at it.

 

[Claudia]

I love Pike.

But I voted for Lorca because 1. he was an original character, 2. he was by far the best character in a bunch of very mediocre ones, and 3. I liked the mystery, the evil surrounding his character.

 

[Mudd]

I saw a lot less of Pike than I did of Lorca, but I like him better.

 

[Noname Given]

They were EACH ONE outstanding in his own way.

 

[Kemaiku]

Pike is awesome, Lorca is a minor mercenary bootlicker to the Empress who died in what amounts to a giant mushroom suffle gone wrong.

Not a hard choice.

 

[Spaceship Jo]

Echoing what several have already said above: it would be a tie or slightly Lorca except his reveal was so terrible and so much less interesting than the damaged character he could have been. I'm pretty sure I'd say Isaacs is the better actor, but Mount has taken what could be a bog-standard Trek captain and played it so well that he's more interesting than the "interesting" people around him. I do love that Mount was also up for the role of Lorca and when he was up for Pike, he didn't know it was Pike.

 

[seigezunt]

That's a tough one, because, while I enjoyed the first season as a whole, I personally feel they lost an opportunity for some nuanced storytelling by making Lorca a secret baddie. If he had stayed a broken hero, I would be suggesting he was the better character, as Pike's appeal is built in many ways on our nostalgia.

But because of the MU twist kinda hurting the character of Lorca, and because of the amount of nuance, wit and charm that Anson Mount brought to his part, I voted for Pike.

Lorca was a character with great promise, performed by an excellent actor, ultimately betrayed by the narrative. Pike is a character that was successfully crafted from a one-episode character which we've had a half-century to build non-canon narratives and head canon about, and yet managed to hit each note perfectly, thanks to an exemplary actor and knowledgable writers being eminently respectful to the lore.

 

[Rahul]

Pike.

Yes, he has a bit of a "cool-dad"-vibe. But that's IMO exactly what "Star Trek" needs. Star Trek isn't Battlestar Galactica or '24' It just doesn't really lend itself for angsty drama. It should be exciting, adventurous, and turn on your imagination. Captain Pike is the perfect "Captain America", the team leader by example, always coming down hard on the right side - because what are principles if we don't stand by them when it actually counts?. Everybody wants to be Iron Man, because he is cooler. But you need a Captain Pike to actually have a working team that does good.

As for Lorca... well.... Jason Isaac's acting was awesome. The problem is his biggest appeal was apparently being the typical "hardboiled white man making tough choices" Jack Reacher/Death Wish type guy, coming hard down on the "the ends justify ALL means"-angle. Ironically, considering how often the writers claimed to be "liberal", they created the perfect alt-right poster-child Captain. And then - instead of deconstructing that worldview - showing how your bad deeds bite you in the ass, a là "You're defined by what you are doing, not your intentions" - they completely side-stepped the issue and turned him into a saturday-afternoon cartoon villain, face-heel turn, bad puns and an "ironic" Disney death all included.

 

[ITDUDE]

Yep, this poll probably would be close to 50/50 if it wasn't for what the writers did to Lorca

 

[saddestmoon]

Pike, but Lorca is also awesome for a completely different set of reasons.

 

[Jadeb]

Based on what's on screen, Pike. Lorca had potential galore but is ultimately a missed opportunity.

 

[BillJ]

Lorca.

 

[Alan Roi]

Lorca was amazing. Troubled. Angsty. Complex. Not the average Starfleet captain. His crew feared him and he gave few fucks about anything.

Then it turned out not to be because of tragedy and a difficult war, but because he's from a universe where everyone's crazy by default.

So... Pike. He's everyone's Dad and a bit Ned Flanders, but damn good at it.

Pike might have been your dad, not mine. Mine had as much in common with Lorca as he did with Pike. Honestly, Pike is a bit of a pushover, a bit to reliant on his crew and a bit to eager to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Lorca looked for an advantage in every situation, knew he was the smartest guy in the room tactically and would not suffer fools lightly. I see Lorca wining by points, even if Pike can last to the final round by taking punch after punch without falling.