Okay but, use of existing names aside, they have invented new characters; either one of them, particularly M'Benga (who had virtually no character to begin with), could be given a different name and it would make no difference.
Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x01 - "The Broken Circle"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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Okay but, use of existing names aside, they have invented new characters; either one of them, particularly M'Benga (who had virtually no character to begin with), could be given a different name and it would make no difference.
I really enjoyed this episode. I like how the seeds were set for The Undiscovered Country and whether General Chang had any involvement with this conspiracy. I may have missed it, but did they suggest that there was a Starfleet involvement in this conspiracy as well?
I kept hearing Mama from Addams Family Values with the new engineer and yes I know it's the same actress, but she seems like an intriguing character moving forward.
I kept hearing Mama from Addams Family Values with the new engineer and yes I know it's the same actress, but she seems like an intriguing character moving forward.
They really haven't. They expanded existing ones.
It's just the small universe thing that franchises have always been doing. And it's not limited to prequels either. For example over at Star Wars, the guy in the 'Book of Boba Fett' tv show acts and talks so little like the Boba Fett in the original movies that they're basically a completely different character who happen to have the same name. Even their motivations about anything are completely different (there's not a single hint at all that Boba has any aspirations to being a crime lord in the movies). We see Boba making haka faces while stabbing stormtroopers and bemoaning the Empire's return, yet in the movies he's perfectly happy to work with the Empire.
To be fair Boba Fett had almost no spoken lines in the Original Trilogy 
and his motivations post-the Sarlaac Pit change because his life circumstances have radically changed to reflect being stuck on Tatooine and being forced to live with Tusken Raiders to ensure his short-term survival.
Don't forget, Boba still ruthlessly mows down the Nikto raider gang that murdered his Tusken friends and allies and didn't bat an eye as Slave I's cannons cut down every Nikto in sight.
and his motivations post-the Sarlaac Pit change because his life circumstances have radically changed to reflect being stuck on Tatooine and being forced to live with Tusken Raiders to ensure his short-term survival.Don't forget, Boba still ruthlessly mows down the Nikto raider gang that murdered his Tusken friends and allies and didn't bat an eye as Slave I's cannons cut down every Nikto in sight.
As far as I'm concerned, SNW is at its worst when it's trying to tie in to TOS. It'd be better if it was brand new show about some random ship. M'Benga, Chapel, and Uhura are great, but it's just weird that they're supposed to be the same people doing the same jobs (or subordinate jobs!) on the same ship in ten years. Good God, look at Uhura! She gets a job basically as an internship, then continues doing the same one after graduation, so now we know she hit the glass ceiling at, what, 22, and is going to be first-shift communications officer on the flagship for the next thirty-five years? I mean, I personally sympathize about getting a plum job that has no room for advancement and gradually coming to realize that it's a devil's bargain, but unless it's a sly commentary on 21st century career paths (or lack thereof), I don't think it does anyone any favors.
And that's not even going into its inexplicable love for reusing names for possibly-new characters in the same roles. Kyle, Mitchell, Colt; Are they supposed to be the same ones we already knew? It'd be weird that they changed ethnicity, species, and/or gender, but it's also weird that M'Benga is going from being the head doctor on the Enterprise and a grizzled veteran (literally) to McCoy's hotshot wet-behind-the-ears deputy who's twenty years younger, but from all accounts, they're the same guy.
I just try not to think about it at this point, and I hope the show doesn't hurt itself too badly trying to reconcile itself to TOS due to a completely unforced error. I mean, even if they wanted to play with the existing dynamics (which really only applies to Chapel/Spock), they didn't literally need to do it with Chapel and Spock; The DSC series premiere set up a Bones/Spock sibling rivalry thing with Burnham and Saru, they stopped doing it almost immediately, but they didn't need to literally be the same characters to explore and develop a similar relationship.
Ironically the canon Marvel comics, also by Disney, make the differences more glaring by showing OT Boba as a complete psycho who tortures kids and kills them even when they tell him what he wants to know. In the tv shows, he has a code of honor.To be fair Boba Fett had almost no spoken lines in the Original Trilogy
Don't forget, Boba still ruthlessly mows down the Nikto raider gang that murdered his Tusken friends and allies and didn't bat an eye as Slave I's cannons cut down every Nikto in sight.
I guess the age thing has to be handwaved, SNW made Pike older than he was described and portrayed in TOS so it's not just M'Benga they've done this to.
Also, I assume now the interpretation of rather than M'Benga being a hotshot naive new guy in TOS he's actually the useless old guy who's still around and McCoy's the hotshot new hire who took his job (and this happens all the time in real life). Star Wars even went all in on this in their Tales of the Jedi cartoon recently by teaming Dooku with young hotshot Mace Windu, and the scenes make it clear that Dooku's out of style (to the point of him considering defecting which we all know he does), he's basically window dressing now, and at the end of the episode Windu gets a Council seat and Dooku is kind of just there (although Star Wars canon is unclear whether Dooku already had a Council seat as of this episode or not).
So the situation with M'Benga and McCoy in TOS can definitely be re-evaluated in that light.
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The specific phrase it used was "24th Century technology allows dilithium to be regenerated, so there is rarely a problem with these once-priceless crystals".
This is the same process Scotty was able to perform in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (and had apparently forgotten about inventing in TNG: "Relics"). Dilithium is still somewhat valuable because it cannot be created, but once it's there it can be maintained indefinitely by 24th century technology without needing to be replaced.
Plus Book said he had a dilithium recrystalizer in DSC Season 3, but it was damaged in the crash.
The issue wasn't that the 32nd Century didn't have a way to reuse crystals, it was the fact a vast majority became inert and unusable.
So why not expand upon a previously nearly unknown character?
I don't think they are meant to be the same, though Kyle is a nonissue to me because recasting is a thing. Colt's name was never spoken on screen so again nonissue.
M'Benga is less of an issue. He does his time on the Enterprise, decides to do a residency on Vulcan and comes back and things change.
Indeed. It's not an inconsistency because literally people can change. Never mind the whole "almost dying thing" that would certainly impact a person's psyche. The idea that people are static, never change, regardless of life and circumstances is a nice fiction, and certainly one many couples fall prey to ("We will always be in love like this! It will never change!") but is not accurate to what humans experience, either due to trauma, personal experiences, frustrations, disappointments, or even workplace changes. I'll use myself as an example-I use to be far more outgoing, interested in learning about new people at my work place. But, with huge turn over (entire teams leaving) I've become less outgoing, less interested in that engagement because I'm tired of change.To be fair Boba Fett had almost no spoken lines in the Original Trilogy
Don't forget, Boba still ruthlessly mows down the Nikto raider gang that murdered his Tusken friends and allies and didn't bat an eye as Slave I's cannons cut down every Nikto in sight.
This idea that humans don't change is one that leads to frustration with characters.
Damage to the recrystalliser (or theta matrix compositing system as it's called in the text) is explicitly listed in the Voyager Writer's Guide as a way of reintroducing dilithium shortage drama if necessary. Which would have made a darn sight more sense than the time Voyager managed to run out of hydrogen...
Oh lord don't remind me.
I did that once. Birthday party was ruined until I filled up those balloons.
So M'Benga really, really, really hates Klingons and they seem to be going somewhere with this.
It just occurred to me if they, uh, George Lucas special editionalized Star Trek 4 and 6 and replaced all instances of the name "Cartwright" with "M'Benga", we'd have a very nice story arc now going from SNW to Star Trek 6.
It just occurred to me if they, uh, George Lucas special editionalized Star Trek 4 and 6 and replaced all instances of the name "Cartwright" with "M'Benga", we'd have a very nice story arc now going from SNW to Star Trek 6.
I know it's Star Trek and hardly anyone dies but it did take some of the drama out of this episode knowing the medical team were fine.
I'm just someone who prefers as little connection to TOS as possible but not too upset either way as the characters are my 2 favourites of this show whatever their names.
I don't think he hates Klingons. I think it's like O'Brien said about hating what they made him become.So M'Benga really, really, really hates Klingons and they seem to be going somewhere with this.
It just occurred to me if they, uh, George Lucas special editionalized Star Trek 4 and 6 and replaced all instances of the name "Cartwright" with "M'Benga", we'd have a very nice story arc now going from SNW to Star Trek 6.
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Plus, as a doctor, he got to deal with the fallout of all of those "glorious" battles. Firsthand experience like that can color a person's perceptions.
I would prefer that too, but again if they did completely original characters there would be calls for "Where's *fill in the blank*?" Why didn't they bring back so and so. Or, this doctor could have been Boyce, or Piper or M'Benga so why not cast them?
It's an untenable position. For me, while I would prefer less connective TOS tissue, I also realize that a prequel can give us a different perspective on what we thought it was always like.
Hopefully.
The augment story was stupid. It should have been just accepted that it was a product of production limitations and never mentioned in universe.