Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 1x09 - "All Those Who Wander"

[Ssosmcin]

Hemmer was amazing and one of the best performed roles in the series. His death was excruciating but he served his narrative purpose. As said at his wake, he fixes things. That was his role, his narrative purpose.

He fixed Uhura. He was her Obi-Wan. His sacrifice gave her the final lesson she needed.

It's not "killing the disabled character." It's showing a man who transcended his disability and changed lives as he sacrificed his own to save them.

To bring him back would cheapen it. It sucks because he was so well realized. We liked him. That's the point. Killing an unpopular character is meaningless. This was great drama.

Wasn't thrilled with the Alien and Predator homage (SeaQuest already went to that well - I hoped for something more original for the Gorn), but this was a huge step up from last week.

And to everyone wondering if La'an will be back next season.... What's stopping them from including her in the next episode? Just because she's leaving the ship to go on some personal journey doesn't mean she's not going to be in the next episode for a few scenes.

 

[AlanC9]

My post outright addresses that. Only the disabled guy is considered for the short term part. He never had a shot with the mainstream roles. That still doesn't look good at all.

It's a fair point.

Kind of reminds me of The100; specifically, Lexa's death. The showrunners seem to have just straight-up blundered into doing Bury Your Gays without ever even thinking about it. You can see how it happened, since the whole season arc was about Lexa's death and what would follow from it, they couldn't rewrite the season to keep Lexa around since Alycia Debnam-Carey was leaving for Fear the Walking Dead no matter what they wrote, and they had already teased Clexa in the previous season. So, they thought that they had come up with the optimal solution; get Clarke and Lexa together, and then immediately blow Lexa away so they can get on with the plot. Oops.

SNW has a problem in that most of the cast are literally unkillable since they outlive the series. I'm including Number One in the unkillable list because I don't think Romijn signs the contract just to die in S1. Can't kill Noonien-Singh since they haven't paid off her family history yet. That leaves either Ortegas or Hemmer. Someone maybe should have considered that they were killing off the disabled guy, but nobody did. FWIW, if that's the choice, I'll grudgingly accept keeping Ortegas over keeping Hemmer.

Of course, they could have just not killed anybody at all, but I guess that was off the table.

 

[Uhura's Song]

While I did not like losing Hemmer, his was a noble death and well earned. Unlike, say, Ariam on DISCO (unearned), or Tasha's death on TNG (meaningless).

FWIW, I do not know if you can count Hemmer as disabled (the actor is a different story). All the Aenar do not have sight. Is a bat disabled because it cannot see? His species just does not "see" the way most bipeds do.

What bothered me more was Alien plot. In my view, La'An would have known how Gorn reproduce from her time with them and that info should have been transmitted to all Star Fleet personnel as Gorn 101. Especially after the encounter earlier in the season, if not before.

Further, how do the fall for eggs not being detected AFTER they realize the other ship likely was doomed for the same reason?

I do not like it when they make the characters look dumb because plot/emo.

Oh, and the whole egg/hatch thing reminded me of Magog from Andromeda. Alien/Pedator/Magog.

 

[dswynne1]

Those damn murderous babies!

I'm reminded of an old 1970s classic horror film featuring killer babies attacking people, after escaping from the wombs of unsuspecting mothers...

 

[Donald G]

I'm reminded of an old 1970s classic horror film featuring killer babies attacking people, after escaping from the wombs of unsuspecting mothers...

Are you thinking of IT'S ALIVE (which I still haven't seen) or a different seventies horror film about monstrous killer babies??

 

[UssGlenn]

Further, how do the fall for eggs not being detected AFTER they realize the other ship likely was doomed for the same reason?

M'Benga thought the issue was the transporter, and that the passengers weren't given a through physical after the biofilter came up clean. Being plain invisible to sensors didn't cross his mind.

 

[NCC-73515]

By settlement, however, not judgment.

so... he sued? and... he won?

 

[Trekker4747]

I thought this episode was quite atmospheric and very entertaining, with the right beats for character development, all this enough to rate this a "9" despite the pastiche-y nature of the thing.

I did have to turn up my suspension of disbelief with the Gorn in a number of ways, as the depiction bordered on silliness at times. I think the apparent inconsistencies in Gorn depictions in their handful of appearances or mentions in the franchise are best explained by having multiple types/species/whatever of Gorn within their Hegemony. It is certainly hard to picture these extremely fast and agile, juvenile Gorn driven by raw animal instinct, growing up into the "highly advanced," slow yet unstoppable force of brute strength that was depicted in TOS "Arena."

Here's a bit of retcon-logic... Kirk referred to the reptilian captain he encountered as "the creature the Metrons called a Gorn." Maybe he had heard vague rumors and reports of the type of Gorn that Pike had encountered, but this one was different enough that he didn't quite take it at face value that it was actually the same thing.

By the way, let's dispense with notions that the TOS Gorn is 'silly' or 'cheap' or whatever, and give credit where credit is due for Wah Chang's work on the design and the costume. Michael Westmore noted that the TOS Gorn captain "was a very advanced creation for his time." And it was meant to be slow and lumbering per the script; think how silly it would look for something like the classic Godzilla to dart around like a little lizard.

Also, a frozen-solid body with bones wouldn't actually shatter into ice dust on impact like that when struck with a hard object. But that's obviously an homage to well-known Hollywood depictions. So I guess we can let that slide.


Though uneven at times, "Stranger Things" is quite a fun homage to 80s pop culture. Even for me, and for the most part I generally can't stand 80s pop culture. It took me four years to convince myself to finally give the series a try.

Kor

I actually had the privilege of seeing the original Gorn costume up close this past winter during a visit to LA. Very cool! And agreed, well designed!

.... "Maybe."

But, today, people watching the episode today, unfamiliar with the background, the era, the costume itself and all of that they see a cheap-looking rubber lizard costume. It doesn't visually hold up on screen.

 

[Belz...]

But it was such a glorious death. Really, one of Trek's topnotch death scenes. Hemmer sacrificed himself to safe the others and he "fixed" Uhura, helping her become the Uhura we know and love from TOS. It really connected back to his connection with her in previous episodes. We know that from Uhura's point of view, she will never forget Hemmer and be forever grateful. Fantastic!

I fully agree with you. It was really well done. But it was too soon. They should've waited for mid- or late season 3 to do this.

 

[Belz...]

My post outright addresses that. Only the disabled guy is considered for the short term part. He never had a shot with the mainstream roles.

Again you are speculating. You have no idea how the process went or what was in their minds.

But, today, people watching the episode today, unfamiliar with the background, the era, the costume itself and all of that they see a cheap-looking rubber lizard costume. It doesn't visually hold up on screen.

And it doesn't matter, because it was never meant to.

 

[jackoverfull]

On another topic, am I the only one finding Spock in this episode out of character? So all it takes for a Vulcan to let go of logic is a few words? And why was that helpful?

Also Kirk quoting the McCoy of Galileo 7 when his relationship with Spock is nowhere…why?!

 

[Mudd]

The Gorn instinctively respond to violent aggression by attacking. Spock had to channel his natural propensity for violence - which, we've seen in the past, is pretty huge.

 

[Mudd]

SNW has a problem in that most of the cast are literally unkillable since they outlive the series.

Like most TV - and certainly most Trek. I never have worried about core characters dying, as it's happened...what. three times in half a century? Maybe four if you count Abrams Pike.

It's not a problem.

 

[Ssosmcin]

On another topic, am I the only one finding Spock in this episode out of character? So all it takes for a Vulcan to let go of logic is a few words?

I didn't mind that he allowed his rage to overcome him, I just thought saying the words was too mechanical. I wasn't sure that part was necessary. Why does seemingly everything Vulcans do in the series have to be some sort of ritual? I would rather he have just done it and then explained it to Chapel later.

 

[Mudd]

I didn't mind that he allowed his rage to overcome him, I just thought saying the words was too mechanical. I wasn't sure that part was necessary. Why does seemingly everything Vulcans do in the series have to be some sort of ritual?

Well, of course this all calls back to TOS, and suggests that they train themselves to trigger different states of consciousness through a kind of conditioned self-hypnosis.

 

[Mudd]

But seriously, there are cases without, but also cases with merit.

This is a case without merit.

 

[TrekTrucker]

Hey Ya’ll. New member. 1st post.

just wanted to say I’m loving the series as a whole, and I enjoyed this most recent episode in particular. I like what they’re doing with Gorn as they seem to be setting them up as the series main bad aliens. So I suspect we’ll be seeing more of them as the series move forward. As to the difference between TOS Gorn and SNW Gorn - obviously technology, but in-universe, I lean towards the sub-species theory. Like Aenar vs Andorians. But we’ll see.

The one thing I don’t like, is that this most recent episode kinda screws up my Trek TTPRG game where one of the characters is a big fan of Gornean Sumo. LOL.

 

[GNDN18]

Hey Ya’ll. New member. 1st post.

just wanted to say I’m loving the series as a whole, and I enjoyed this most recent episode in particular. I like what they’re doing with Gorn as they seem to be setting them up as the series main bad aliens. So I suspect we’ll be seeing more of them as the series move forward. As to the difference between TOS Gorn and SNW Gorn - obviously technology, but in-universe, I lean towards the sub-species theory. Like Aenar vs Andorians. But we’ll see.

The one thing I don’t like, is that this most recent episode kinda screws up my Trek TTPRG game where one of the characters is a big fan of Gornean Sumo. LOL.

 

[Belz...]

I didn't mind that he allowed his rage to overcome him, I just thought saying the words was too mechanical.

You mean, like a Vulcan?

 

[Ssosmcin]

You mean, like a Vulcan?

No, like an android. Every Spock prior, Sarek, Saavik, Valeris, Soval, etc. They weren't robotic, doing everything by ceremony or a checklist. They were emotionally reserved, but they weren't this rat-tat-tat "move emotion to my heart" type being. They just did it and reeled it in or failed to, but they didn't do this switch flipping checklist. Spock here is more like Data.