Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 1x08 - "The Elysian Kingdom"

Discussion in 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' started by Commander Richard, Jun 22, 2022.

?

Hit it!

  1. 10 - Excellent!

    22.3%
  2. 9

    15.3%
  3. 8

    19.5%
  4. 7

    14.0%
  5. 6

    10.2%
  6. 5

    4.2%
  7. 4

    6.0%
  8. 3

    3.3%
  9. 2

    1.9%
  10. 1 - Terrible!

    3.3%
  1. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    Funny, since some folks think it's too much like a bunch of other Trek episodes. :lol:

    Well,if you don't like it, you don't. Doesn't mean there's something wrong with it.

    The Boltzman reference elevated the spiffy aspect above most Trek that uses the disembodied power brain gimmick.
     
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  2. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    That got real ambiguous in the series finale of DS9.
     
  3. valden

    valden Commander Red Shirt

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    You got that right and this is part of the issue with kurtzman trek show. it all feels very high school, the immaturity of Ortega is enough.
     
  4. dupersuper

    dupersuper Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I'm surprised at how many Star Trek fans on this thread seem to dislike fun.

    Did the writer think that Spock was from the 5th dimension?

    No. No it's not.
     
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  5. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    Yep.

    You know, I think it would be just about impossible to replace him with some dude playing Kirk. Big mistake. I'm sure Wesley will be a fine guest star, but SNW should run with Pike until Mount doesn't want to do it any more.

    I don't know whether this episode or "Ghosts of Illyria" is my least-favorite of the season so far. But...it's a difference that makes no difference, because "Ghosts" was a 10 and I gave this one a 10 also.

    I love that I watch this show every week and go in having no real idea what the story is going to be like, even after watching the trailers and "sneak peeks" and discussing what's upcoming for a week. The story is always a surprise, and the actors are always delightful.

    That's an experience I haven't had watching Star Trek since the first couple of years of the original TV series. The sequels and prequels have always had a "find the groove and stick to it," conservative and frankly timid approach to storytelling.

    The hope in doing it that way is that you never have a bad episode - which is a false hope - but the disappointment is that brilliant stories are rarer than Shatner underplaying a line.
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2022
  6. Photoman15

    Photoman15 Commodore Commodore

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    Even if this episode was the worst Trek ever, it was worth it because it gave us Christina Chong in that dress and character.
     
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  7. Jedi Marso

    Jedi Marso Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yep. My first thought when M'Benga let her decide was that old quote from Andy Griffith on the Andy Griffith show, when Opie's hobo friend suggested to Andy that he let his son decide things for himself:

    "Andy Taylor: Nah, I'm afraid it don't work that way. You can't let a young 'un decide for himself. He'll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it, then when he finds out there's a hook in it, it's too late. The wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter it's hard to convince him that other things might be better in the long run, and all a parent can do is say, "Wait. Trust me," and try to keep temptation away."
     
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  8. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    The idea that someone's consciousness can be in one place and their body in another is one that Trek has embraced for over half a century, but it's completely unscientific bullshit with no basis in any measurable data.

    Go ahead, cite some bullshit "study" based on bad science that's passed around on the Internet because it's what people want to believe. Those things never hold up to any close examination.
     
  9. plynch

    plynch Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Letting an 8 year old decide her fate was literally irresponsible, probably immoral. But mores change and we now let children decide things unthinkable 10 years ago. But don’t let them legally decide to smoke till 21.

    With all his knowledge and wisdom of how the universe works he defers to a child whether to go with an omnipotent space alien. While the kid could be buffered till he finds a cure. In fact there’s a cure on the last planet they were at!! So it’s possible.

    More of my problems: When she was missing the first time he took it pretty cool. Most parents would be frantic. When she goes, he just kind of looks wistful. Youl’ll never see your kid again! I’d be sobbing. And not the ubiquitous Burnham tearing-up tears. Then it all gets tied up with a bow, I’m the Traveller, dad, all is well. And the good ship E sails off to its next adventure. I was waiting for Kirk, Spock, and McCoy to have a good ol Gene Coon chuckle scene on the bridge.

    In short, it just didn’t work for me
     
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  10. cooleddie74

    cooleddie74 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    The minute anyone judges the series or individual episodes based on "the science" I tune out and ignore the opinion. It's science fiction with an adventure storyline, not a Nova special on the solar system. I don't watch Star Trek for a blow-by-blow study of Newtonian physics or planet formation.
     
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  11. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    What's immature or "high school" about any of it, specifically?
     
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  12. Belz...

    Belz... Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Indeed. Again it would've been better if he let his daughter die. Much more moral.
     
  13. Noname Given

    Noname Given Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    But he scanned his daughter and saw that the entity had indeed been able to cure her of her condition. The Entity did say if she left the nebula her condition would return in full force. It was set up and stated in the episode that even with the transporter the way it was being used to extend her life; that time was running out days had become ours and ours were becoming minutes with respect to how much time she had left.

    The only thing I found somewhat questionable, was the fact that he didn't ask to go with her and join the entity as well. Other than that, given all the evidence on hand; he suddenly had some sort of cure available to him that would give his daughter her life, and he was very desperate and definitely running out of time to effect another cure.
     
  14. the Sisko

    the Sisko Commander Red Shirt

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    My biggest problem with this episode was that, when I tried to buy Kingdom of Elysian from amazon, they acted like the book doesn't exist. Please fix this continuity error ASAP. Either the original version or the daughter's version is fine
     
  15. Serveaux

    Serveaux Fleet Admiral Premium Member

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    Yeah, the story's set up to give M'Benga nothing but hard choices, there.

    1. Ship stays in nebula - daughter lives, everyone's lives are disrupted;
    2. Ship somehow leaves daughter in nebula in corporeal form - she lives, but is alone;
    3. Daughter leaves with ship - she dies;
    4. Father stays with daughter in nebula, ship leaves;
    5. Daughter stays in nebula, joined with "Debra" in energy form.
    My guess is that M'Benga only seriously entertained options 4 and 5. If he'd made the decision himself, he'd have stayed with her in the nebula.

    Did "Debra" offer M'Benga the choice to become an energy being as well? Paramount+ was buffering so badly last evening that it took close to two hours to watch this show, a few minutes at a time at best, and I may have missed more nuance than I usually do (I always miss lots).
     
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  16. Noname Given

    Noname Given Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    No, the Entity didn't explicitly offer that option to M'Benga, but he also never asked or brought it up in any form himself whatsoever, either.
     
  17. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Unfortunately, you know the answer...
    QUOTE="Belz..., post: 14192855, member: 53872"]I know, right? Star Trek shouldn't be fun![/QUOTE]
    That's, like, a rule...or something

    To be fair humor is subjective, but yeah, the reaction is odd.
    Yup. Totally logical.
     
  18. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I lost my time table, when was the fantasy episode supposed to arrive?
     
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  19. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Also, should I call the police?
     
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  20. Jedman67

    Jedman67 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Tuesday.
     
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