Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 1x06 - "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach"

[Midquest]

I love the defensive reaction to saying some is grammatically incorrect as if we don't do it all the time or it makes it "bad."

It's a technicality. I thought Trek fans liked those..

Nothing defensive in my reaction, which summarized the modern consensus and accepted best practice in my field. I'm pointing out that there's no real basis for this rule; Latin is not English, and sometimes the only thing to do in English is split infinitives. There's no technicality.

The prescription against splitting infinitives is one of those things that goes beyond a matter of taste and in fact ends up damaging students' ability to write with confidence and clarity, so I feel strongly about it. To me, even if we disregard the consensus for a minute, a good rule of right and wrong is whether a rule does harm. The rule against splitting is one that I have seen harm both clarity and emotional well-being.

Seems like we both have Views about this, as it were, though, so I'll drop it there.

-------

Hey, I liked this episode! Interesting to see a take on Omelas. And I'd be curious to see how it plays with viewers who don't know that story. Seems like it's had quite a gut-punch for some, which is great. Glad to see it generating ethical debate.

 

[Voodoowoman2]

Just musing that the AI wants sentience and demands it as a child sacrifice. Is the AI really a god to them? Could be. Give me the child or you will all incinerate. Could this be why they don't relocate to a more pleasant planet? Oh, there is probably an excuse Alora gives us but I don't really buy it.
Does anyone talk to the AI? Data would have. Do they try to understand it? The episode could be better written. Having the aliens say "No. That's impossible. You can't do that!" is not enough. This moral dilemma is a contrivance. It is pretty easily solved by emigrating to another world. So, since they obviously could construct the means to do that why didn't they? Someone will tell me the episode explains why they don't. I just see those as excuses.
Is the AI so entwined with the planet itself that it cannot be moved? Moving and taking away its sentience means killing their god perhaps? That means that they won't give up their luxurious life and go bust sod on a new world and get their nails dirty. I noticed obviously the parallel with The Cloudminders and the culture from Spock's brain. They stole Spock's brain to run a computer.
The AI is their rainmaker. Baal the rainmaker.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I had never previously read Omalas, although I have rectified that in the meantime, but I was reminded of The Lottery.

 

[Mudd]

I love the defensive reaction to saying some is grammatically incorrect

It's not defensive. It's irritated.

"Defensive" is insisting that something is a hard rule for no better reason than that you were told that it's a rule. People object to ambiguity when it challenges what they think they know - that is to say, what they were taught.

Does anyone talk to the AI? Data would have.

Who cares?

 

[fireproof78]

Pointing out that something is wrong isn't being "defensive", although calling it "defensive" allows one to handwave the points away.

Usage determines language.

Ah, I see. I apologize then. I'm being sarcastic not trying to hardware anything away. As noted in the link I posted from the MLA it is more acceptable now to split infinitives. Perhaps it will become grammatically correct.

The point of language is clear communication. If one can understand the meaning of a phrase then it does it's job. 'TO boldly go" is understandable, if technically against the rules.

The prescription against splitting infinitives is one of those things that goes beyond a matter of taste and in fact ends up damaging students' ability to write with confidence and clarity, so I feel strongly about it. To me, even if we disregard the consensus for a minute, a good rule of right and wrong is whether a rule does harm. The rule against splitting is one that I have seen harm both clarity and emotional well-being.

I would be fascinated to hear about the harm done.

 

[Belz...]

Ah, I see. I apologize then. I'm being sarcastic not trying to hardware anything away. As noted in the link I posted from the MLA it is more acceptable now to split infinitives. Perhaps it will become grammatically correct.

I think after decades of general use we can say that it is now correct, at the very least.

The point of language is clear communication. If one can understand the meaning of a phrase then it does it's job. 'TO boldly go" is understandable, if technically against the rules.

No argument there. I'm often the one correcting others on their use of language because I enjoy clear and correct communication. However in this case I think the case can easily be made that it is -- at the very least now -- correct.

 

[fireproof78]

I think after decades of general use we can say that it is now correct, at the very least.


No argument there. I'm often the one correcting others on their use of language because I enjoy clear and correct communication. However in this case I think the case can easily be made that it is -- at the very least now -- correct.

I will say it's acceptable use.

 

[Donald G]

"To boldly go . . ." may not have been grammatically correct; it was, however, dramatically correct.

 

[fireproof78]

"To boldly go . . ." may not have been grammatically correct; it was, however, dramatically correct.

And it communicates the message just fine. Thus, acceptable use, if not technically following the rules.

 

[Captain Jollydark]

Wasn't there a dalliance with a, uh, professional in "Bread and Circuses"?

A professional slave you mean?

 

[Akiraprise]

8/10

While not my favorite episode of the season the story was somewhat thought provoking. In this case their society follows the Vulcan adage "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one," to a tee. Normally we agree with such a statement but when the "One" involves using a child until he dies and then plugging another into the machine like a new battery it makes one pause. This culture accepts and celebrates the sacrifice. From the Federation viewpoint this act is reprehensible, but the Prime Directive would seem to apply, something Pike was going to violate without much of a second thought. It was an intriguing episode and ended with our '"good guys" not "winning."

 

[Ghel]

I really enjoyed this episode. I figured out the "twist" ending about half way through the episode since dad seemed to care about his son, but wouldn't let himself feel, and the traitorous guard yelled something along the lines of "long live the servant" or something to that effect. That said, it didn't reduce my enjoyment of watching the story unfold.

What did surprise me in a good way is that they followed through on the premise and didn't have Pike or crew pull off some miraculous "save" at the end.

 

[cooleddie74]

This deleted scene from NEM is the first credit of the "to boldly go" speech to originator Zefram Cochrane anywhere outside of ENT. This movie was a mess but it had its fun little moments that probably should have stayed in the released version.

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[Anna Yolei]

Am I the only one that isn’t a fan of the ep title. Seems a little too much when they could have gone simple with “the first servant” or even Alora.

I got pretty tired of Enterprise's one word, uninspired titles so I'm glad current Trek is moving away from that trend, TBH.

 

[cooleddie74]

VOY did the same. Berman and Braga became notorious for episodes that had one-word titles.

 

[JoseNoodles]

Seriously, what the fuck!?
If there anything this episodes shows, it is the difference between Pike's and Kirk's command styles. Kirk would have almost certainly done something to put a stop to this, even if he couldn't have saved the child, and even if it risked the planet's destruction. I'm also disappointed that for a show that chooses to criticize the much vaunted Prime Directive, it more or less decided to hide behind it like many older shows had done in the past. The only thing I hope is that when Pike makes his report, he asks that these people be barred from ever joining the Federation, and that a travel quarantine be placed on their system. Sure they have warp capable ships, but they seem eschew intergalactic travel to other sectors of space, so if their baby killer machine malfunctions (if it isn't broken already), the onus will be on them to fix or just leave their planet.
A TOS plot, but a not very TOS ending. 6/10

I would just move planets.
I hear Cestus III is uninhabited

So is Celti Alpha V.

The predecessors who built this setup might be the Borg or Borg related.

Nah, I don't think the Borg or their immediate predecessors would have sacrificed so many potential future drones, much less make a religion out of it.

They had different issues. I was happy to see another cloud city exist.

In hindsight, I think this was intentional. The people of Stratos were also sick fucks. Ugh...there were also Federation members.

This story just might have given the answer to how the Vidiians healed the Phage. Quantum medicine sounds plausible.

Or how the Think Tank cured it for them.

I see two ways this went down as a sci-fi author:

1:] They immigrated to this planet and found some ancient Precursor stuff which was pretty common in the TOS era and not uncommon in TNG.
2:] Their ancestors made the child eating machine as a way to save their population from extinction during the early days of the disaster but they never made any improvements.

This thing is probably supposed to run on Pakleds, but since the Majalans either don't know who the Pakleds are or haven't made the connection, they think it runs on children.

 

[Haggis and tatties]

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

 

[Charles Phipps]

Seriously, what the fuck!?
If there anything this episodes shows, it is the difference between Pike's and Kirk's command styles. Kirk would have almost certainly done something to put a stop to this, even if he couldn't have saved the child, and even if it risked the planet's destruction. I'm also disappointed that for a show that chooses to criticize the much vaunted Prime Directive, it more or less decided to hide behind it like many older shows had done in the past. The only thing I hope is that when Pike makes his report, he asks that these people be barred from ever joining the Federation, and that a travel quarantine be placed on their system. Sure they have warp capable ships, but they seem eschew intergalactic travel to other sectors of space, so if their baby killer machine malfunctions (if it isn't broken already), the onus will be on them to fix or just leave their planet.
A TOS plot, but a not very TOS ending. 6/10

To be fair, I feel this is pretty powerful. Pike absolutely would have freed the child if it did any good but there's no point here now. The downer ending was all the more effective for it and there's a reason CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER is remembered so well.

I also agree these people will never join the Federation.

 

[cooleddie74]

Sometimes Trek needs sad and downer endings. "City on the Edge of Forever(TOS)" and "Cogenitor(ENT)" are two examples of stories concluded with tragedy and the lead characters shaken and forever changed in some way. Trek can't always be hope and promise as the hero ship flies off into a nebula nor should it be. Heroes don't always win the day.

 

[Noname Given]

Seriously, what the fuck!?
If there anything this episodes shows, it is the difference between Pike's and Kirk's command styles. Kirk would have almost certainly done something to put a stop to this, even if he couldn't have saved the child, and even if it risked the planet's destruction. I'm also disappointed that for a show that chooses to criticize the much vaunted Prime Directive, it more or less decided to hide behind it like many older shows had done in the past. The only thing I hope is that when Pike makes his report, he asks that these people be barred from ever joining the Federation, and that a travel quarantine be placed on their system. Sure they have warp capable ships, but they seem eschew intergalactic travel to other sectors of space, so if their baby killer machine malfunctions (if it isn't broken already), the onus will be on them to fix or just leave their planet.
A TOS plot, but a not very TOS ending. 6/10

I disagree with your assumption that Kirk would have done something more. Kirk didn't ALWAYS intervine in situations where he felt things were wrong. The majority of the times he did so was because he/his ship/his crew were in direct danger if he failed to act. Also, Pike was NOT "hiding behind the Prime Directive", as it didn't apply. These people were technically advanced and space faring and knew of life on other planets. They had earlier been offered but refused Federation membership.

Also, had Pike prevented the assent of the First Servant, everything of their civilization and the people themselves would fall into the Lava on the surface of the planet. Yes Pike could sve a small number of people by evacuating them to Enterprise, but the majority would die.

Pike said he would report everything he saw to Star Fleet and the Federation Council; and the response was: "Go ahead. We're not a member world and the Federation has no jurisdiction on our planet."

There were instances in TOS where Kirk eas in similar situations and could not come up with a solution by the end of an episode.

TOS S2 - "A Private Little War" comes to mind.