They were both using some magical strength serum
Spoilers Star Trek: Strange New Worlds 2x01 - "The Broken Circle"
- Thread starter Commander Richard
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I think that's dependent on how well the writing works those additions into the story, and whether those additions really add anything interesting. Breaking out the super-soldier serum for a slow-mo fight with dozens of Klingons felt like a plot development I'd expect from a Saturday morning cartoon (Popeye) or a gimmick in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to explain how the heroes win.
And, beyond that, it feels like a story element that needs more explanation to fit in a universe where its never been seen before and has implications for the shows set 100 years after this one. Sort of like how in Star Wars, where they gave a mystical explanation for the Force in The Empire Strikes Back, only to introduce midi-chlorian counts in The Phantom Menace. That led to a lot of Star Wars fans saying what the hell is a midi-chlorian and how is that a thing?
After the backlash Star Wars properties don't talk much about midi-chlorians anymore, because it was an answer a lot of fans didn't want to a question they didn't ask. A lot this isn’t a “We need someone to recognize Khan but the best person in this story to do that is Chekov” kind of thing. This is something that was EASILLY avoidable without compromising anything about the story they want to tell.
I'm guessing you missed the parts when Chapel and M'Benga injected themselves with soldier serum and when they discussed it with each other. Chapel wasn't any tougher than M'Benga, nor was she substantially less tough. The writers even threw a bone to those who think it's important for women to be physically weaker than men, as Chapel was the one who pointed out when the serum was beginning to wear off, and she seemingly tired before M'Benga.
You were mistaken, then.
Ripley donning a mech load lifter suit in Aliens to kick the Queen Xenomorph's ass isn't much different from the serum in this episode and yet Ripley in the load lifter suit is hardly "Saturday morning cartoon" or "Power Rangers" in its gimmickry. In both stories humans have to use artificial means to gain the physical strength to overcome their opponents. In Chapel's and M'Benga's cases it was a chemical serum that endows the user with a brief burst in physical prowess.
How do people feel about Ortegas? I really like her but in some reviews have seen people express dislike of over here because of her quippy-insubordinate attitude.
A chemical serum that's never been mentioned in any other Trek medium before, across 10 other television series.
It's not like Ripley donning a mech-loader. First of all, Ripley awakens to living in a new time with different stuff, having been asleep for 80 years. Also, James Cameron introduces the mech-loader as a piece of equipment on the ship at the beginning of Aliens. It's a Chekhov's Gun that doesn't just come out of nowhere at the climax.
This is the equivalent of Popeye's spinach.
Oh well. We'll live.
It's Star Trek. Weird, out-of-left-field stuff happens. It's fiction set 250 years from now in deep space. I'm willing to suspend some disbelief for the sake of a fun story.
It's Star Trek. Weird, out-of-left-field stuff happens. It's fiction set 250 years from now in deep space. I'm willing to suspend some disbelief for the sake of a fun story.
Nope.
This is a pretty minor innovation. It would be stupid and awkward writing to make a big deal of it. The producers are assuming a reasonably sophisticated audience rather than one composed of easily confused children.
Yeah.... He wasn't.
Why do people get so up their own butts when something "never seen before" in a show is introduced? The introduction of new information should intrigue not turn everyone into Comic Book Guy.
Also, this was the first episode of the season not the fucking climax!
No, it's nothing like those things and it doesn't create important plot holes. Sorry.
Honestly, Trek has a foundational piece of tech that is nothing but a plot hole: the transporter. The franchise has never come to grips with it, but has managed to prosper for six decades or so anyway.
It's literally a small vial of a green chemical that when drank gives the user a temporary burst of great physical strength. If anything it's a futuristic amphetamine to keep military officers and soldiers awake, alert and energetic during life-or-death situations. And Chapel and M'Benga return to their normal strength levels before the episode's end. It's like popping an upper before something in which you need to have the maximum energy possible.
You know what was cool? After all this time they managed to come up with an unexpected twist on the transporter "beaming" effect.
That they managed, at that fraught life-or-death moment, to make the damned thing frantic and unfamiliar and scary for a moment was a little marvel.
That they managed, at that fraught life-or-death moment, to make the damned thing frantic and unfamiliar and scary for a moment was a little marvel.
I can understand why people dislike that trait. But given the type of Captain, Pike is, I think he welcomes anyone with a unique voice and works well together
Ortegas is not afraid to speak her mind and I feel most of her quips are meant to ease into or cope with the serious situations they find themselves in.
I think she is a good choice to provide those quips. It doesn't interfere with her role as a competent and dynamic pilot. It allows her to stand out from the others and interject some lightness
I like her a lot too.
God, the last thing I care about is people complaining that a character isn't "Starfleet" or Star Trek enough, as if that's a thing.